Virtual assistant for media playback

ABSTRACT

An exemplary method for identifying media may include receiving user input associated with a request for media, where that user input includes unstructured natural language speech including one or more words; identifying at least one context associated with the user input; causing a search for the media based on the at least one context and the user input; determining, based on the at least one context and the user input, at least one media item that satisfies the request; and in accordance with a determination that the at least one media item satisfies the request, obtaining the at least one media item.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/819,343 entitled “Virtual Assistant for Media Playback,” filed Aug.8, 2015, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent ApplicationNo. 62/186,182, entitled “Virtual Assistant for Media Playback,” filedJun. 29, 2015. The contents of each of these applications are herebyincorporated by reference in their entireties.

FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to media playback, and morespecifically to a virtual assistant used to facilitate media playback.

BACKGROUND

Intelligent automated assistants (or digital assistants) provide abeneficial interface between human users and electronic devices. Suchassistants allow users to interact with devices or systems using naturallanguage in spoken and/or text forms. For example, a user can access theservices of an electronic device by providing a spoken user request to adigital assistant associated with the electronic device. The digitalassistant can interpret the user's intent from the spoken user requestand operationalize the user's intent into tasks. The tasks can then beperformed by executing one or more services of the electronic device anda relevant output can be returned to the user in natural language form.

When managing music or other media, a digital assistant can be helpfulin playing back specific media, particularly in a hands-freeenvironment. A digital assistant can respond effectively to a request toplay a specific media item, such as an album or a song identifiedspecifically by title or by artist. However, digital assistants have notbeen useful in discovering media based on nonspecific, unstructurednatural language requests—for example, a request for a song from apopular movie.

BRIEF SUMMARY

Some techniques for discovering media based on a nonspecific,unstructured natural language request, however, are generally cumbersomeand inefficient. For example, existing techniques use a complex andtime-consuming user interface, which may include multiple key presses orkeystrokes. The user must perform his or her own research to determinewhich specific media he or she is seeking, then attempt to obtain thatmedia. Both of those steps may be impractical or impossible in certaincircumstances, such as when the user is operating a motor vehicle or hashis or her hands full. Existing techniques require more time thannecessary, wasting user time and device energy. This latterconsideration is particularly important in battery-operated devices.

Accordingly, there is a need for electronic devices with faster, moreefficient methods and interfaces for discovering media based on anonspecific, unstructured natural language request. Such methods andinterfaces optionally complement or replace other methods fordiscovering media based on a nonspecific, unstructured natural languagerequest. Such methods and interfaces reduce the cognitive burden on auser and produce a more efficient human-machine interface. Forbattery-operated computing devices, such methods and interfaces conservepower and increase the time between battery charges.

In some embodiments, a method for identifying media includes: at adevice with one or more processors, memory, and a microphone: receivinguser input associated with a request for media, the user input includingunstructured natural language speech including one or more words;identifying at least one context associated with the user input; causinga search for the media based on the at least one context and the userinput; determining, based on the at least one context and the userinput, at least one media item that satisfies the request; and, inaccordance with a determination that the at least one media itemsatisfies the request, obtaining the at least one media item.

In some embodiments, an electronic device includes: a display; a memory;a microphone; a processor coupled to the display, the memory, and themicrophone; the processor configured to: receive user input associatedwith a request for media, the user input including unstructured naturallanguage speech including one or more words; identify at least onecontext associated with the user input; cause a search for the mediabased on the at least one context and the user input; determine, basedon the at least one context and the user input, at least one media itemthat satisfies the request; and, in accordance with a determination thatthe at least one media item satisfies the request, obtain the at leastone media item.

In some embodiments, a non-transitory computer-readable storage mediumstores one or more programs, the one or more programs includinginstructions, which when executed by an electronic device, cause theelectronic device to: receive user input associated with a request formedia, the user input including unstructured natural language speechincluding one or more words; identify at least one context associatedwith the user input; cause a search for the media based on the at leastone context and the user input; determine, based on the at least onecontext and the user input, at least one media item that satisfies therequest; and in accordance with a determination that the at least onemedia item satisfies the request, obtain the at least one media item.

In some embodiments, a transitory computer-readable storage mediumstores one or more programs, the one or more programs includinginstructions, which when executed by an electronic device, cause theelectronic device to: receive user input associated with a request formedia, the user input including unstructured natural language speechincluding one or more words; identify at least one context associatedwith the user input; cause a search for the media based on the at leastone context and the user input; determine, based on the at least onecontext and the user input, at least one media item that satisfies therequest; and, in accordance with a determination that the at least onemedia item satisfies the request, obtain the at least one media item.

In some embodiments, a system utilizes an electronic device with adisplay, where the system includes: means for receiving user inputassociated with a request for media, the user input includingunstructured natural language speech including one or more words; meansfor identifying at least one context associated with the user input;means for causing a search for the media based on the at least onecontext and the user input; means for determining, based on the at leastone context and the user input, at least one media item that satisfiesthe request; and, in accordance with a determination that the at leastone media item satisfies the request, means for obtaining the at leastone media item.

In some embodiments, an electronic device includes: a processing unitthat includes a receiving unit, an identifying unit, a causing unit, adetermining unit, and an obtaining unit, the processing unit configuredto: receive, using the receiving unit, user input associated with arequest for media, the user input including unstructured naturallanguage speech including one or more words; identify, using theidentifying unit, at least one context associated with the user input;cause, using the causing unit, a search for the media based on the atleast one context and the user input; determine, using the determiningunit, based on the at least one context and the user input, at least onemedia item that satisfies the request; and, in accordance with adetermination that the at least one media item satisfies the request,obtain, using the obtaining unit, the at least one media item.

Executable instructions for performing these functions are, optionally,included in a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium or othercomputer program product configured for execution by one or moreprocessors. Executable instructions for performing these functions are,optionally, included in a transitory computer-readable storage medium orother computer program product configured for execution by one or moreprocessors.

Thus, devices are provided with faster, more efficient methods andinterfaces for discovering media based on a nonspecific, unstructurednatural language request, thereby increasing the effectiveness,efficiency, and user satisfaction with such devices. Such methods andinterfaces may complement or replace other methods for discovering mediabased on a nonspecific, unstructured natural language request.

DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

For a better understanding of the various described embodiments,reference should be made to the Description of Embodiments below, inconjunction with the following drawings in which like reference numeralsrefer to corresponding parts throughout the figures.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a system and environment forimplementing a digital assistant according to various examples.

FIG. 2A is a block diagram illustrating a portable multifunction deviceimplementing the client-side portion of a digital assistant according tovarious examples.

FIG. 2B is a block diagram illustrating exemplary components for eventhandling according to various examples.

FIG. 3 illustrates a portable multifunction device implementing theclient-side portion of a digital assistant according to variousexamples.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an exemplary multifunction device with adisplay and a touch-sensitive surface according to various examples.

FIG. 5A illustrates an exemplary user interface for a menu ofapplications on a portable multifunction device according to variousexamples.

FIG. 5B illustrates an exemplary user interface for a multifunctiondevice with a touch-sensitive surface that is separate from the displayaccording to various examples.

FIG. 6A illustrates a personal electronic device according to variousexamples.

FIG. 6B is a block diagram illustrating a personal electronic deviceaccording to various examples.

FIG. 7A is a block diagram illustrating a digital assistant system or aserver portion thereof according to various examples.

FIG. 7B illustrates the functions of the digital assistant shown in FIG.7A according to various examples.

FIG. 7C illustrates a portion of an ontology according to variousexamples.

FIGS. 8A-8Q illustrate exemplary user interfaces for a personalelectronic device in accordance with some embodiments. FIG.81 isintentionally omitted to avoid any confusion between the capital letterI and the numeral 1 (one), and FIG. 80 is intentionally omitted to avoidany confusion between the capital letter 0 and the numeral 0 (zero).

FIGS. 9A-9C illustrate a process for operating a digital assistant formedia playback, according to various examples.

FIG. 10 illustrates a functional block diagram of an electronic deviceaccording to various examples.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

The following description sets forth exemplary methods, parameters, andthe like. It should be recognized, however, that such description is notintended as a limitation on the scope of the present disclosure but isinstead provided as a description of exemplary embodiments.

There is a need for electronic devices that provide efficient methodsand interfaces for discovering media based on a nonspecific,unstructured natural language request. As described above, mediadiscovery techniques are not as effective as they might be, such as withusers with slow or unusual speech patterns. A digital assistant canreduce the cognitive burden on a user who discovers media based on anonspecific, unstructured natural language request, thereby enhancingproductivity. Further, such techniques can reduce processor and batterypower otherwise wasted on redundant user inputs.

Below, FIGS. 1, 2A-2B, 3, 4, 5A-5B and 6A-6B provide a description ofexemplary devices for performing the techniques for discovering mediabased on a nonspecific, unstructured natural language request. FIG.6A-6B illustrate exemplary user interfaces for discovering media basedon a nonspecific, unstructured natural language request. FIGS. 7A-7C areblock diagrams illustrating a digital assistant system or a serverportion thereof, and a portion of an ontology associated with thedigital assistant system. FIGS. 8A-8B are flow diagrams illustratingmethods of discovering media based on a nonspecific, unstructurednatural language request in accordance with some embodiments.

Although the following description uses terms “first,” “second,” etc. todescribe various elements, these elements should not be limited by theterms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element fromanother. For example, a first touch could be termed a second touch, and,similarly, a second touch could be termed a first touch, withoutdeparting from the scope of the various described embodiments. The firsttouch and the second touch are both touches, but they are not the sametouch.

The terminology used in the description of the various describedembodiments herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. As used in thedescription of the various described embodiments and the appendedclaims, the singular forms “a”, “an,” and “the” are intended to includethe plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It will also be understood that the term “and/or” as usedherein refers to and encompasses any and all possible combinations ofone or more of the associated listed items. It will be furtherunderstood that the terms “includes,” “including,” “comprises,” and/or“comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence ofstated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/orcomponents, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or moreother features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components,and/or groups thereof.

The term “if” may be construed to mean “when” or “upon” or “in responseto determining” or “in response to detecting,” depending on the context.Similarly, the phrase “if it is determined” or “if [a stated conditionor event] is detected” may be construed to mean “upon determining” or“in response to determining” or “upon detecting [the stated condition orevent]” or “in response to detecting [the stated condition or event],”depending on the context.

Embodiments of electronic devices, user interfaces for such devices, andassociated processes for using such devices are described. In someembodiments, the device is a portable communications device, such as amobile telephone, that also contains other functions, such as PDA and/ormusic player functions. Exemplary embodiments of portable multifunctiondevices include, without limitation, the iPhone®, iPod Touch®, and iPad®devices from Apple Inc. of Cupertino, Calif. Other portable electronicdevices, such as laptops or tablet computers with touch-sensitivesurfaces (e.g., touch screen displays and/or touchpads), are,optionally, used. It should also be understood that, in someembodiments, the device is not a portable communications device, but isa desktop computer with a touch-sensitive surface (e.g., a touch screendisplay and/or a touchpad).

In the discussion that follows, an electronic device that includes adisplay and a touch-sensitive surface is described. It should beunderstood, however, that the electronic device optionally includes oneor more other physical user-interface devices, such as a physicalkeyboard, a mouse, and/or a joystick.

The device may support a variety of applications, such as one or more ofthe following: a drawing application, a presentation application, a wordprocessing application, a website creation application, a disk authoringapplication, a spreadsheet application, a gaming application, atelephone application, a video conferencing application, an e-mailapplication, an instant messaging application, a workout supportapplication, a photo management application, a digital cameraapplication, a digital video camera application, a web browsingapplication, a digital music player application, and/or a digital videoplayer application.

The various applications that are executed on the device optionally useat least one common physical user-interface device, such as thetouch-sensitive surface. One or more functions of the touch-sensitivesurface as well as corresponding information displayed on the deviceare, optionally, adjusted and/or varied from one application to the nextand/or within a respective application. In this way, a common physicalarchitecture (such as the touch-sensitive surface) of the deviceoptionally supports the variety of applications with user interfacesthat are intuitive and transparent to the user.

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of system 100 according to variousexamples. In some examples, system 100 can implement a digitalassistant. The terms “digital assistant,” “virtual assistant,”“intelligent automated assistant,” or “automatic digital assistant” canrefer to any information processing system that interprets naturallanguage input in spoken and/or textual form to infer user intent, andperforms actions based on the inferred user intent. For example, to acton an inferred user intent, the system can perform one or more of thefollowing: identifying a task flow with steps and parameters designed toaccomplish the inferred user intent, inputting specific requirementsfrom the inferred user intent into the task flow; executing the taskflow by invoking programs, methods, services, APIs, or the like; andgenerating output responses to the user in an audible (e.g., speech)and/or visual form.

Specifically, a digital assistant can be capable of accepting a userrequest at least partially in the form of a natural language command,request, statement, narrative, and/or inquiry. Typically, the userrequest can seek either an informational answer or performance of a taskby the digital assistant. A satisfactory response to the user requestcan be a provision of the requested informational answer, a performanceof the requested task, or a combination of the two. For example, a usercan ask the digital assistant a question, such as “Where am I rightnow?” Based on the user's current location, the digital assistant cananswer, “You are in Central Park near the west gate.” The user can alsorequest the performance of a task, for example, “Please invite myfriends to my girlfriend's birthday party next week.” In response, thedigital assistant can acknowledge the request by saying “Yes, rightaway,” and then send a suitable calendar invite on behalf of the user toeach of the user's friends listed in the user's electronic address book.During performance of a requested task, the digital assistant cansometimes interact with the user in a continuous dialogue involvingmultiple exchanges of information over an extended period of time. Thereare numerous other ways of interacting with a digital assistant torequest information or performance of various tasks. In addition toproviding verbal responses and taking programmed actions, the digitalassistant can also provide responses in other visual or audio forms,e.g., as text, alerts, music, videos, animations, etc.

As shown in FIG. 1, in some examples, a digital assistant can beimplemented according to a client-server model. The digital assistantcan include client-side portion 102 (hereafter “DA client 102”) executedon user device 104 and server-side portion 106 (hereafter “DA server106”) executed on server system 108. DA client 102 can communicate withDA server 106 through one or more networks 110. DA client 102 canprovide client-side functionalities such as user-facing input and outputprocessing and communication with DA server 106. DA server 106 canprovide server-side functionalities for any number of DA clients 102each residing on a respective user device 104.

In some examples, DA server 106 can include client-facing I/O interface112, one or more processing modules 114, data and models 116, and I/Ointerface to external services 118. The client-facing I/O interface 112can facilitate the client-facing input and output processing for DAserver 106. One or more processing modules 114 can utilize data andmodels 116 to process speech input and determine the user's intent basedon natural language input. Further, one or more processing modules 114perform task execution based on inferred user intent. In some examples,DA server 106 can communicate with external services 120 throughnetwork(s) 110 for task completion or information acquisition. I/Ointerface to external services 118 can facilitate such communications.

User device 104 can be any suitable electronic device. For example, userdevices can be a portable multifunctional device (e.g., device 200,described below with reference to FIG. 2A), a multifunctional device(e.g., device 400, described below with reference to FIG. 4), or apersonal electronic device (e.g., device 600, described below withreference to FIG. 6A-B.) A portable multifunctional device can be, forexample, a mobile telephone that also contains other functions, such asPDA and/or music player functions. Specific examples of portablemultifunction devices can include the iPhone®, iPod Touch®, and iPad®devices from Apple Inc. of Cupertino, Calif. Other examples of portablemultifunction devices can include, without limitation, laptop or tabletcomputers. Further, in some examples, user device 104 can be anon-portable multifunctional device. In particular, user device 104 canbe a desktop computer, a game console, a television, or a televisionset-top box. In some examples, user device 104 can include atouch-sensitive surface (e.g., touch screen displays and/or touchpads).Further, user device 104 can optionally include one or more otherphysical user-interface devices, such as a physical keyboard, a mouse,and/or a joystick. Various examples of electronic devices, such asmultifunctional devices, are described below in greater detail.

Examples of communication network(s) 110 can include local area networks(LAN) and wide area networks (WAN), e.g., the Internet. Communicationnetwork(s) 110 can be implemented using any known network protocol,including various wired or wireless protocols, such as, for example,Ethernet, Universal Serial Bus (USB), FIREWIRE, Global System for MobileCommunications (GSM), Enhanced Data GSM Environment (EDGE), codedivision multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA),Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), Wi-MAX, or anyother suitable communication protocol.

Server system 108 can be implemented on one or more standalone dataprocessing apparatus or a distributed network of computers. In someexamples, server system 108 can also employ various virtual devicesand/or services of third-party service providers (e.g., third-partycloud service providers) to provide the underlying computing resourcesand/or infrastructure resources of server system 108.

In some examples, user device 104 can communicate with DA server 106 viasecond user device 122. Second user device 122 can be similar oridentical to user device 104. For example, second user device 122 can besimilar to devices 200, 400, or 600 described below with reference toFIGS. 2A, 4, and 6A-B. User device 104 can be configured tocommunicatively couple to second user device 122 via a directcommunication connection, such as Bluetooth, NFC, BTLE, or the like, orvia a wired or wireless network, such as a local Wi-Fi network. In someexamples, second user device 122 can be configured to act as a proxybetween user device 104 and DA server 106. For example, DA client 102 ofuser device 104 can be configured to transmit information (e.g., a userrequest received at user device 104) to DA server 106 via second userdevice 122. DA server 106 can process the information and returnrelevant data (e.g., data content responsive to the user request) touser device 104 via second user device 122.

In some examples, user device 104 can be configured to communicateabbreviated requests for data to second user device 122 to reduce theamount of information transmitted from user device 104. Second userdevice 122 can be configured to determine supplemental information toadd to the abbreviated request to generate a complete request totransmit to DA server 106. This system architecture can advantageouslyallow user device 104 having limited communication capabilities and/orlimited battery power (e.g., a watch or a similar compact electronicdevice) to access services provided by DA server 106 by using seconduser device 122, having greater communication capabilities and/orbattery power (e.g., a mobile phone, laptop computer, tablet computer,or the like), as a proxy to DA server 106. While only two user devices104 and 122 are shown in FIG. 1, it should be appreciated that system100 can include any number and type of user devices configured in thisproxy configuration to communicate with DA server system 106.

Although the digital assistant shown in FIG. 1 can include both aclient-side portion (e.g., DA client 102) and a server-side portion(e.g., DA server 106), in some examples, the functions of a digitalassistant can be implemented as a standalone application installed on auser device. In addition, the divisions of functionalities between theclient and server portions of the digital assistant can vary indifferent implementations. For instance, in some examples, the DA clientcan be a thin-client that provides only user-facing input and outputprocessing functions, and delegates all other functionalities of thedigital assistant to a backend server.

2. Electronic Devices

Attention is now directed toward embodiments of electronic devices forimplementing the client-side portion of a digital assistant. FIG. 2A isa block diagram illustrating portable multifunction device 200 withtouch-sensitive display system 212 in accordance with some embodiments.Touch-sensitive display 212 is sometimes called a “touch screen” forconvenience and is sometimes known as or called a “touch-sensitivedisplay system.” Device 200 includes memory 202 (which optionallyincludes one or more computer-readable storage mediums), memorycontroller 222, one or more processing units (CPUs) 220, peripheralsinterface 218, RF circuitry 208, audio circuitry 210, speaker 211,microphone 213, input/output (I/O) subsystem 206, other input controldevices 216, and external port 224. Device 200 optionally includes oneor more optical sensors 264. Device 200 optionally includes one or morecontact intensity sensors 265 for detecting intensity of contacts ondevice 200 (e.g., a touch-sensitive surface such as touch-sensitivedisplay system 212 of device 200). Device 200 optionally includes one ormore tactile output generators 267 for generating tactile outputs ondevice 200 (e.g., generating tactile outputs on a touch-sensitivesurface such as touch-sensitive display system 212 of device 200 ortouchpad 455 of device 400). These components optionally communicateover one or more communication buses or signal lines 203.

As used in the specification and claims, the term “intensity” of acontact on a touch-sensitive surface refers to the force or pressure(force per unit area) of a contact (e.g., a finger contact) on thetouch-sensitive surface, or to a substitute (proxy) for the force orpressure of a contact on the touch-sensitive surface. The intensity of acontact has a range of values that includes at least four distinctvalues and more typically includes hundreds of distinct values (e.g., atleast 256). Intensity of a contact is, optionally, determined (ormeasured) using various approaches and various sensors or combinationsof sensors. For example, one or more force sensors underneath oradjacent to the touch-sensitive surface are, optionally, used to measureforce at various points on the touch-sensitive surface. In someimplementations, force measurements from multiple force sensors arecombined (e.g., a weighted average) to determine an estimated force of acontact. Similarly, a pressure-sensitive tip of a stylus is, optionally,used to determine a pressure of the stylus on the touch-sensitivesurface. Alternatively, the size of the contact area detected on thetouch-sensitive surface and/or changes thereto, the capacitance of thetouch-sensitive surface proximate to the contact and/or changes thereto,and/or the resistance of the touch-sensitive surface proximate to thecontact and/or changes thereto are, optionally, used as a substitute forthe force or pressure of the contact on the touch-sensitive surface. Insome implementations, the substitute measurements for contact force orpressure are used directly to determine whether an intensity thresholdhas been exceeded (e.g., the intensity threshold is described in unitscorresponding to the substitute measurements). In some implementations,the substitute measurements for contact force or pressure are convertedto an estimated force or pressure, and the estimated force or pressureis used to determine whether an intensity threshold has been exceeded(e.g., the intensity threshold is a pressure threshold measured in unitsof pressure). Using the intensity of a contact as an attribute of a userinput allows for user access to additional device functionality that mayotherwise not be accessible by the user on a reduced-size device withlimited real estate for displaying affordances (e.g., on atouch-sensitive display) and/or receiving user input (e.g., via atouch-sensitive display, a touch-sensitive surface, or aphysical/mechanical control such as a knob or a button).

As used in the specification and claims, the term “tactile output”refers to physical displacement of a device relative to a previousposition of the device, physical displacement of a component (e.g., atouch-sensitive surface) of a device relative to another component(e.g., housing) of the device, or displacement of the component relativeto a center of mass of the device that will be detected by a user withthe user's sense of touch. For example, in situations where the deviceor the component of the device is in contact with a surface of a userthat is sensitive to touch (e.g., a finger, palm, or other part of auser's hand), the tactile output generated by the physical displacementwill be interpreted by the user as a tactile sensation corresponding toa perceived change in physical characteristics of the device or thecomponent of the device. For example, movement of a touch-sensitivesurface (e.g., a touch-sensitive display or trackpad) is, optionally,interpreted by the user as a “down click” or “up click” of a physicalactuator button. In some cases, a user will feel a tactile sensationsuch as an “down click” or “up click” even when there is no movement ofa physical actuator button associated with the touch-sensitive surfacethat is physically pressed (e.g., displaced) by the user's movements. Asanother example, movement of the touch-sensitive surface is, optionally,interpreted or sensed by the user as “roughness” of the touch-sensitivesurface, even when there is no change in smoothness of thetouch-sensitive surface. While such interpretations of touch by a userwill be subject to the individualized sensory perceptions of the user,there are many sensory perceptions of touch that are common to a largemajority of users. Thus, when a tactile output is described ascorresponding to a particular sensory perception of a user (e.g., an “upclick,” a “down click,” “roughness”), unless otherwise stated, thegenerated tactile output corresponds to physical displacement of thedevice or a component thereof that will generate the described sensoryperception for a typical (or average) user.

It should be appreciated that device 200 is only one example of aportable multifunction device, and that device 200 optionally has moreor fewer components than shown, optionally combines two or morecomponents, or optionally has a different configuration or arrangementof the components. The various components shown in FIG. 2A areimplemented in hardware, software, or a combination of both hardware andsoftware, including one or more signal processing and/orapplication-specific integrated circuits.

Memory 202 may include one or more computer-readable storage mediums.The computer-readable storage mediums may be tangible andnon-transitory. Memory 202 may include high-speed random access memoryand may also include non-volatile memory, such as one or more magneticdisk storage devices, flash memory devices, or other non-volatilesolid-state memory devices. Memory controller 222 may control access tomemory 202 by other components of device 200.

In some examples, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium ofmemory 202 can be used to store instructions (e.g., for performingaspects of process 900, described below) for use by or in connectionwith an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device, such as acomputer-based system, processor-containing system, or other system thatcan fetch the instructions from the instruction execution system,apparatus, or device and execute the instructions. In other examples,the instructions (e.g., for performing aspects of process 900, describedbelow) can be stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium (not shown) of the server system 108 or can be divided betweenthe non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of memory 202 andthe non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of server system108. In the context of this document, a “non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium” can be any medium that can contain orstore the program for use by or in connection with the instructionexecution system, apparatus, or device.

Peripherals interface 218 can be used to couple input and outputperipherals of the device to CPU 220 and memory 202. The one or moreprocessors 220 run or execute various software programs and/or sets ofinstructions stored in memory 202 to perform various functions fordevice 200 and to process data. In some embodiments, peripheralsinterface 218, CPU 220, and memory controller 222 may be implemented ona single chip, such as chip 204. In some other embodiments, they may beimplemented on separate chips.

RF (radio frequency) circuitry 208 receives and sends RF signals, alsocalled electromagnetic signals. RF circuitry 208 converts electricalsignals to/from electromagnetic signals and communicates withcommunications networks and other communications devices via theelectromagnetic signals. RF circuitry 208 optionally includes well-knowncircuitry for performing these functions, including but not limited toan antenna system, an RF transceiver, one or more amplifiers, a tuner,one or more oscillators, a digital signal processor, a CODEC chipset, asubscriber identity module (SIM) card, memory, and so forth. RFcircuitry 208 optionally communicates with networks, such as theInternet, also referred to as the World Wide Web (WWW), an intranetand/or a wireless network, such as a cellular telephone network, awireless local area network (LAN) and/or a metropolitan area network(MAN), and other devices by wireless communication. The RF circuitry 208optionally includes well-known circuitry for detecting near fieldcommunication (NFC) fields, such as by a short-range communicationradio. The wireless communication optionally uses any of a plurality ofcommunications standards, protocols, and technologies, including but notlimited to Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Enhanced DataGSM Environment (EDGE), high-speed downlink packet access (HSDPA),high-speed uplink packet access (HSUPA), Evolution, Data-Only (EV-DO),HSPA, HSPA+, Dual-Cell HSPA (DC-HSPDA), long term evolution (LTE), nearfield communication (NFC), wideband code division multiple access(W-CDMA), code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multipleaccess (TDMA), Bluetooth, Bluetooth Low Energy (BTLE), Wireless Fidelity(Wi-Fi) (e.g., IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g, IEEE 802.11n,and/or IEEE 802.11ac), voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), Wi-MAX, aprotocol for e mail (e.g., Internet message access protocol (IMAP)and/or post office protocol (POP)), instant messaging (e.g., extensiblemessaging and presence protocol (XMPP), Session Initiation Protocol forInstant Messaging and Presence Leveraging Extensions (SIMPLE), InstantMessaging and Presence Service (IMPS)), and/or Short Message Service(SMS), or any other suitable communication protocol, includingcommunication protocols not yet developed as of the filing date of thisdocument.

Audio circuitry 210, speaker 211, and microphone 213 provide an audiointerface between a user and device 200. Audio circuitry 210 receivesaudio data from peripherals interface 218, converts the audio data to anelectrical signal, and transmits the electrical signal to speaker 211.Speaker 211 converts the electrical signal to human-audible sound waves.Audio circuitry 210 also receives electrical signals converted bymicrophone 213 from sound waves. Audio circuitry 210 converts theelectrical signal to audio data and transmits the audio data toperipherals interface 218 for processing. Audio data may be retrievedfrom and/or transmitted to memory 202 and/or RF circuitry 208 byperipherals interface 218. In some embodiments, audio circuitry 210 alsoincludes a headset jack (e.g., 312, FIG. 3). The headset jack providesan interface between audio circuitry 210 and removable audioinput/output peripherals, such as output-only headphones or a headsetwith both output (e.g., a headphone for one or both ears) and input(e.g., a microphone).

I/O subsystem 206 couples input/output peripherals on device 200, suchas touch screen 212 and other input control devices 216, to peripheralsinterface 218. I/O subsystem 206 optionally includes display controller256, optical sensor controller 258, intensity sensor controller 259,haptic feedback controller 261, and one or more input controllers 260for other input or control devices. The one or more input controllers260 receive/send electrical signals from/to other input control devices216. The other input control devices 216 optionally include physicalbuttons (e.g., push buttons, rocker buttons, etc.), dials, sliderswitches, joysticks, click wheels, and so forth. In some alternateembodiments, input controller(s) 260 are, optionally, coupled to any (ornone) of the following: a keyboard, an infrared port, a USB port, and apointer device such as a mouse. The one or more buttons (e.g., 308, FIG.3) optionally include an up/down button for volume control of speaker211 and/or microphone 213. The one or more buttons optionally include apush button (e.g., 306, FIG. 3).

A quick press of the push button may disengage a lock of touch screen212 or begin a process that uses gestures on the touch screen to unlockthe device, as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/322,549,“Unlocking a Device by Performing Gestures on an Unlock Image,” filedDec. 23, 2005, U.S. Pat. No. 7,657,849, which is hereby incorporated byreference in its entirety. A longer press of the push button (e.g., 306)may turn power to device 200 on or off. The user may be able tocustomize a functionality of one or more of the buttons. Touch screen212 is used to implement virtual or soft buttons and one or more softkeyboards.

Touch-sensitive display 212 provides an input interface and an outputinterface between the device and a user. Display controller 256 receivesand/or sends electrical signals from/to touch screen 212. Touch screen212 displays visual output to the user. The visual output may includegraphics, text, icons, video, and any combination thereof (collectivelytermed “graphics”). In some embodiments, some or all of the visualoutput may correspond to user-interface objects.

Touch screen 212 has a touch-sensitive surface, sensor, or set ofsensors that accepts input from the user based on haptic and/or tactilecontact. Touch screen 212 and display controller 256 (along with anyassociated modules and/or sets of instructions in memory 202) detectcontact (and any movement or breaking of the contact) on touch screen212 and convert the detected contact into interaction withuser-interface objects (e.g., one or more soft keys, icons, web pages,or images) that are displayed on touch screen 212. In an exemplaryembodiment, a point of contact between touch screen 212 and the usercorresponds to a finger of the user.

Touch screen 212 may use LCD (liquid crystal display) technology, LPD(light emitting polymer display) technology, or LED (light emittingdiode) technology, although other display technologies may be used inother embodiments. Touch screen 212 and display controller 256 maydetect contact and any movement or breaking thereof using any of aplurality of touch sensing technologies now known or later developed,including but not limited to capacitive, resistive, infrared, andsurface acoustic wave technologies, as well as other proximity sensorarrays or other elements for determining one or more points of contactwith touch screen 212. In an exemplary embodiment, projected mutualcapacitance sensing technology is used, such as that found in theiPhone® and iPod Touch® from Apple Inc. of Cupertino, Calif.

A touch-sensitive display in some embodiments of touch screen 212 may beanalogous to the multi-touch sensitive touchpads described in thefollowing U.S. Pat. No: 6,323,846 (Westerman et al.), Pat. No. 6,570,557(Westerman et al.), and/or Pat. No. 6,677,932 (Westerman), and/or U.S.Patent Publication 2002/0015024A1, each of which is hereby incorporatedby reference in its entirety. However, touch screen 212 displays visualoutput from device 200, whereas touch-sensitive touchpads do not providevisual output.

A touch-sensitive display in some embodiments of touch screen 212 may beas described in the following applications: (1) U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 11/381,313, “Multipoint Touch Surface Controller,” filed May 2,2006; (2) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/840,862, “MultipointTouchscreen,” filed May 6, 2004; (3) U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/903,964, “Gestures For Touch Sensitive Input Devices,” filed Jul. 30,2004; (4) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/048,264, “Gestures ForTouch Sensitive Input Devices,” filed Jan. 31, 2005; (5) U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/038,590, “Mode-Based Graphical User InterfacesFor Touch Sensitive Input Devices,” filed Jan. 18, 2005; (6) U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/228,758, “Virtual Input Device Placement On ATouch Screen User Interface,” filed Sep. 16, 2005; (7) U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/228,700, “Operation Of A Computer With A TouchScreen Interface,” filed Sep. 16, 2005; (8) U.S. patent application Ser.No. 11/228,737, “Activating Virtual Keys Of A Touch-Screen VirtualKeyboard,” filed Sep. 16, 2005; and (9) U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/367,749, “Multi-Functional Hand-Held Device,” filed Mar. 3, 2006. Allof these applications are incorporated by reference herein in theirentirety.

Touch screen 212 may have a video resolution in excess of 100 dpi. Insome embodiments, the touch screen has a video resolution ofapproximately 160 dpi. The user may make contact with touch screen 212using any suitable object or appendage, such as a stylus, a finger, andso forth. In some embodiments, the user interface is designed to workprimarily with finger-based contacts and gestures, which can be lessprecise than stylus-based input due to the larger area of contact of afinger on the touch screen. In some embodiments, the device translatesthe rough finger-based input into a precise pointer/cursor position orcommand for performing the actions desired by the user.

In some embodiments, in addition to the touch screen, device 200 mayinclude a touchpad (not shown) for activating or deactivating particularfunctions. In some embodiments, the touchpad is a touch-sensitive areaof the device that, unlike the touch screen, does not display visualoutput. The touchpad may be a touch-sensitive surface that is separatefrom touch screen 212 or an extension of the touch-sensitive surfaceformed by the touch screen.

Device 200 also includes power system 262 for powering the variouscomponents. Power system 262 may include a power management system, oneor more power sources (e.g., battery, alternating current (AC)), arecharging system, a power failure detection circuit, a power converteror inverter, a power status indicator (e.g., a light-emitting diode(LED)) and any other components associated with the generation,management and distribution of power in portable devices.

Device 200 may also include one or more optical sensors 264. FIG. 2Ashows an optical sensor coupled to optical sensor controller 258 in I/Osubsystem 206. Optical sensor 264 may include charge-coupled device(CCD) or complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS)phototransistors. Optical sensor 264 receives light from theenvironment, projected through one or more lenses, and converts thelight to data representing an image. In conjunction with imaging module243 (also called a camera module), optical sensor 264 may capture stillimages or video. In some embodiments, an optical sensor is located onthe back of device 200, opposite touch screen display 212 on the frontof the device so that the touch screen display may be used as aviewfinder for still and/or video image acquisition. In someembodiments, an optical sensor is located on the front of the device sothat the user's image may be obtained for video conferencing while theuser views the other video conference participants on the touch screendisplay. In some embodiments, the position of optical sensor 264 can bechanged by the user (e.g., by rotating the lens and the sensor in thedevice housing) so that a single optical sensor 264 may be used alongwith the touch screen display for both video conferencing and stilland/or video image acquisition.

Device 200 optionally also includes one or more contact intensitysensors 265. FIG. 2A shows a contact intensity sensor coupled tointensity sensor controller 259 in I/O subsystem 206. Contact intensitysensor 265 optionally includes one or more piezoresistive strain gauges,capacitive force sensors, electric force sensors, piezoelectric forcesensors, optical force sensors, capacitive touch-sensitive surfaces, orother intensity sensors (e.g., sensors used to measure the force (orpressure) of a contact on a touch-sensitive surface). Contact intensitysensor 265 receives contact intensity information (e.g., pressureinformation or a proxy for pressure information) from the environment.In some embodiments, at least one contact intensity sensor is collocatedwith, or proximate to, a touch-sensitive surface (e.g., touch-sensitivedisplay system 212). In some embodiments, at least one contact intensitysensor is located on the back of device 200, opposite touch screendisplay 212, which is located on the front of device 200.

Device 200 may also include one or more proximity sensors 266. FIG. 2Ashows proximity sensor 266 coupled to peripherals interface 218.Alternately, proximity sensor 266 may be coupled to input controller 260in I/O subsystem 206. Proximity sensor 266 may perform as described inU.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 11/241,839, “Proximity Detector InHandheld Device”; Ser. No. 11/240,788, “Proximity Detector In HandheldDevice”; Ser. No. 11/620,702, “Using Ambient Light Sensor To AugmentProximity Sensor Output”; Ser. No. 11/586,862, “Automated Response ToAnd Sensing Of User Activity In Portable Devices”; and Ser. No.11/638,251, “Methods And Systems For Automatic Configuration OfPeripherals,” which are hereby incorporated by reference in theirentirety. In some embodiments, the proximity sensor turns off anddisables touch screen 212 when the multifunction device is placed nearthe user's ear (e.g., when the user is making a phone call).

Device 200 optionally also includes one or more tactile outputgenerators 267. FIG. 2A shows a tactile output generator coupled tohaptic feedback controller 261 in I/O subsystem 206. Tactile outputgenerator 267 optionally includes one or more electroacoustic devicessuch as speakers or other audio components and/or electromechanicaldevices that convert energy into linear motion such as a motor,solenoid, electroactive polymer, piezoelectric actuator, electrostaticactuator, or other tactile output generating component (e.g., acomponent that converts electrical signals into tactile outputs on thedevice). Contact intensity sensor 265 receives tactile feedbackgeneration instructions from haptic feedback module 233 and generatestactile outputs on device 200 that are capable of being sensed by a userof device 200. In some embodiments, at least one tactile outputgenerator is collocated with, or proximate to, a touch-sensitive surface(e.g., touch-sensitive display system 212) and, optionally, generates atactile output by moving the touch-sensitive surface vertically (e.g.,in/out of a surface of device 200) or laterally (e.g., back and forth inthe same plane as a surface of device 200). In some embodiments, atleast one tactile output generator sensor is located on the back ofdevice 200, opposite touch screen display 212, which is located on thefront of device 200.

Device 200 may also include one or more accelerometers 268. FIG. 2Ashows accelerometer 268 coupled to peripherals interface 218.Alternately, accelerometer 268 may be coupled to an input controller 260in I/O subsystem 206. Accelerometer 268 may perform as described in U.S.Patent Publication No. 20050190059, “Acceleration-based Theft DetectionSystem for Portable Electronic Devices,” and U.S. Patent Publication No.20060017692, “Methods And Apparatuses For Operating A Portable DeviceBased On An Accelerometer,” both of which are incorporated by referenceherein in their entirety. In some embodiments, information is displayedon the touch screen display in a portrait view or a landscape view basedon an analysis of data received from the one or more accelerometers.Device 200 optionally includes, in addition to accelerometer(s) 268, amagnetometer (not shown) and a GPS (or GLONASS or other globalnavigation system) receiver (not shown) for obtaining informationconcerning the location and orientation (e.g., portrait or landscape) ofdevice 200.

In some embodiments, the software components stored in memory 202include operating system 226, communication module (or set ofinstructions) 228, contact/motion module (or set of instructions) 230,graphics module (or set of instructions) 232, text input module (or setof instructions) 234, Global Positioning System (GPS) module (or set ofinstructions) 235, Digital Assistant Client Module 229, and applications(or sets of instructions) 236. Further, memory 202 can store data andmodels, such as user data and models 231. Furthermore, in someembodiments, memory 202 (FIG. 2A) or 470 (FIG. 4) stores device/globalinternal state 257, as shown in FIGS. 2A and 4. Device/global internalstate 257 includes one or more of: active application state, indicatingwhich applications, if any, are currently active; display state,indicating what applications, views or other information occupy variousregions of touch screen display 212; sensor state, including informationobtained from the device's various sensors and input control devices216; and location information concerning the device's location and/orattitude.

Operating system 226 (e.g., Darwin, RTXC, LINUX, UNIX, OS X, iOS,WINDOWS, or an embedded operating system such as VxWorks) includesvarious software components and/or drivers for controlling and managinggeneral system tasks (e.g., memory management, storage device control,power management, etc.) and facilitates communication between varioushardware and software components.

Communication module 228 facilitates communication with other devicesover one or more external ports 224 and also includes various softwarecomponents for handling data received by RF circuitry 208 and/orexternal port 224. External port 224 (e.g., Universal Serial Bus (USB),FIREWIRE, etc.) is adapted for coupling directly to other devices orindirectly over a network (e.g., the Internet, wireless LAN, etc.). Insome embodiments, the external port is a multi-pin (e.g., 30-pin)connector that is the same as, or similar to and/or compatible with, the30-pin connector used on iPod® (trademark of Apple Inc.) devices.

Contact/motion module 230 optionally detects contact with touch screen212 (in conjunction with display controller 256) and othertouch-sensitive devices (e.g., a touchpad or physical click wheel).Contact/motion module 230 includes various software components forperforming various operations related to detection of contact, such asdetermining if contact has occurred (e.g., detecting a finger-downevent), determining an intensity of the contact (e.g., the force orpressure of the contact or a substitute for the force or pressure of thecontact), determining if there is movement of the contact and trackingthe movement across the touch-sensitive surface (e.g., detecting one ormore finger-dragging events), and determining if the contact has ceased(e.g., detecting a finger-up event or a break in contact).Contact/motion module 230 receives contact data from the touch-sensitivesurface. Determining movement of the point of contact, which isrepresented by a series of contact data, optionally includes determiningspeed (magnitude), velocity (magnitude and direction), and/or anacceleration (a change in magnitude and/or direction) of the point ofcontact. These operations are, optionally, applied to single contacts(e.g., one finger contacts) or to multiple simultaneous contacts (e.g.,“multitouch”/multiple finger contacts). In some embodiments,contact/motion module 230 and display controller 256 detect contact on atouchpad.

In some embodiments, contact/motion module 230 uses a set of one or moreintensity thresholds to determine whether an operation has beenperformed by a user (e.g., to determine whether a user has “clicked” onan icon). In some embodiments, at least a subset of the intensitythresholds are determined in accordance with software parameters (e.g.,the intensity thresholds are not determined by the activation thresholdsof particular physical actuators and can be adjusted without changingthe physical hardware of device 200). For example, a mouse “click”threshold of a trackpad or touch screen display can be set to any of alarge range of predefined threshold values without changing the trackpador touch screen display hardware. Additionally, in some implementations,a user of the device is provided with software settings for adjustingone or more of the set of intensity thresholds (e.g., by adjustingindividual intensity thresholds and/or by adjusting a plurality ofintensity thresholds at once with a system-level click “intensity”parameter).

Contact/motion module 230 optionally detects a gesture input by a user.Different gestures on the touch-sensitive surface have different contactpatterns (e.g., different motions, timings, and/or intensities ofdetected contacts). Thus, a gesture is, optionally, detected bydetecting a particular contact pattern. For example, detecting a fingertap gesture includes detecting a finger-down event followed by detectinga finger-up (liftoff) event at the same position (or substantially thesame position) as the finger-down event (e.g., at the position of anicon). As another example, detecting a finger swipe gesture on thetouch-sensitive surface includes detecting a finger-down event followedby detecting one or more finger-dragging events, and subsequentlyfollowed by detecting a finger-up (liftoff) event.

Graphics module 232 includes various known software components forrendering and displaying graphics on touch screen 212 or other display,including components for changing the visual impact (e.g., brightness,transparency, saturation, contrast, or other visual property) ofgraphics that are displayed. As used herein, the term “graphics”includes any object that can be displayed to a user, including ,withoutlimitation, text, web pages, icons (such as user-interface objectsincluding soft keys), digital images, videos, animations, and the like.

In some embodiments, graphics module 232 stores data representinggraphics to be used. Each graphic is, optionally, assigned acorresponding code. Graphics module 232 receives, from applicationsetc., one or more codes specifying graphics to be displayed along with,if necessary, coordinate data and other graphic property data, and thengenerates screen image data to output to display controller 256.

Haptic feedback module 233 includes various software components forgenerating instructions used by tactile output generator(s) 267 toproduce tactile outputs at one or more locations on device 200 inresponse to user interactions with device 200.

Text input module 234, which may be a component of graphics module 232,provides soft keyboards for entering text in various applications (e.g.,contacts 237, e mail 240, IM 241, browser 247, and any other applicationthat needs text input).

GPS module 235 determines the location of the device and provides thisinformation for use in various applications (e.g., to telephone 238 foruse in location-based dialing; to camera 243 as picture/video metadata;and to applications that provide location-based services such as weatherwidgets, local yellow page widgets, and map/navigation widgets).

Digital assistant client module 229 can include various client-sidedigital assistant instructions to provide the client-sidefunctionalities of the digital assistant. For example, digital assistantclient module 229 can be capable of accepting voice input (e.g., speechinput), text input, touch input, and/or gestural input through varioususer interfaces (e.g., microphone 213, accelerometer(s) 268,touch-sensitive display system 212, optical sensor(s) 229, other inputcontrol devices 216, etc.) of portable multifunction device 200. Digitalassistant client module 229 can also be capable of providing output inaudio (e.g., speech output), visual, and/or tactile forms throughvarious output interfaces (e.g., speaker 211, touch-sensitive displaysystem 212, tactile output generator(s) 267, etc.) of portablemultifunction device 200. For example, output can be provided as voice,sound, alerts, text messages, menus, graphics, videos, animations,vibrations, and/or combinations of two or more of the above. Duringoperation, digital assistant client module 229 can communicate with DAserver 106 using RF circuitry 208.

User data and models 231 can include various data associated with theuser (e.g., user-specific vocabulary data, user preference data,user-specified name pronunciations, data from the user's electronicaddress book, to-do lists, shopping lists, etc.) to provide theclient-side functionalities of the digital assistant. Further, user dataand models 231 can includes various models (e.g., speech recognitionmodels, statistical language models, natural language processing models,ontology, task flow models, service models, etc.) for processing userinput and determining user intent.

In some examples, digital assistant client module 229 can utilize thevarious sensors, subsystems, and peripheral devices of portablemultifunction device 200 to gather additional information from thesurrounding environment of the portable multifunction device 200 toestablish a context associated with a user, the current userinteraction, and/or the current user input. In some examples, digitalassistant client module 229 can provide the contextual information or asubset thereof with the user input to DA server 106 to help infer theuser's intent. In some examples, the digital assistant can also use thecontextual information to determine how to prepare and deliver outputsto the user. Contextual information can be referred to as context data.

In some examples, the contextual information that accompanies the userinput can include sensor information, e.g., lighting, ambient noise,ambient temperature, images or videos of the surrounding environment,etc. In some examples, the contextual information can also include thephysical state of the device, e.g., device orientation, device location,device temperature, power level, speed, acceleration, motion patterns,cellular signals strength, etc. In some examples, information related tothe software state of DA server 106, e.g., running processes, installedprograms, past and present network activities, background services,error logs, resources usage, etc., and of portable multifunction device200 can be provided to DA server 106 as contextual informationassociated with a user input.

In some examples, the digital assistant client module 229 canselectively provide information (e.g., user data 231) stored on theportable multifunction device 200 in response to requests from DA server106. In some examples, digital assistant client module 229 can alsoelicit additional input from the user via a natural language dialogue orother user interfaces upon request by DA server 106. Digital assistantclient module 229 can pass the additional input to DA server 106 to helpDA server 106 in intent deduction and/or fulfillment of the user'sintent expressed in the user request.

A more detailed description of a digital assistant is described belowwith reference to FIGS. 7A-C. It should be recognized that digitalassistant client module 229 can include any number of the sub-modules ofdigital assistant module 726 described below.

Applications 236 may include the following modules (or sets ofinstructions), or a subset or superset thereof:

-   -   Contacts module 237 (sometimes called an address book or contact        list);    -   Telephone module 238;    -   Video conference module 239;    -   E-mail client module 240;    -   Instant messaging (IM) module 241;    -   Workout support module 242;    -   Camera module 243 for still and/or video images;    -   Image management module 244;    -   Video player module;    -   Music player module;    -   Browser module 247;    -   Calendar module 248;    -   Widget modules 249, which may include one or more of: weather        widget 249-1, stocks widget 249-2, calculator widget 249-3,        alarm clock widget 249-4, dictionary widget 249-5, and other        widgets obtained by the user, as well as user-created widgets        249-6;    -   Widget creator module 250 for making user-created widgets 249-6;    -   Search module 251;    -   Video and music player module 252, which merges video player        module and music player module;    -   Notes module 253;    -   Map module 254; and/or    -   Online video module 255.

Examples of other applications 236 that may be stored in memory 202include other word processing applications, other image editingapplications, drawing applications, presentation applications,JAVA-enabled applications, encryption, digital rights management, voicerecognition, and voice replication.

In conjunction with touch screen 212, display controller 256,contact/motion module 230, graphics module 232, and text input module234, contacts module 237 may be used to manage an address book orcontact list (e.g., stored in application internal state 292 of contactsmodule 237 in memory 202 or memory 470), including: adding name(s) tothe address book; deleting name(s) from the address book; associatingtelephone number(s), e-mail address(es), physical address(es) or otherinformation with a name; associating an image with a name; categorizingand sorting names; providing telephone numbers or e-mail addresses toinitiate and/or facilitate communications by telephone 238, videoconference module 239, e-mail 240, or IM 241; and so forth.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 208, audio circuitry 210, speaker 211,microphone 213, touch screen 212, display controller 256, contact/motionmodule 230, graphics module 232, and text input module 234, telephonemodule 238 may be used to enter a sequence of characters correspondingto a telephone number, access one or more telephone numbers in contactsmodule 237, modify a telephone number that has been entered, dial arespective telephone number, conduct a conversation, and disconnect orhang up when the conversation is completed. As noted above, the wirelesscommunication may use any of a plurality of communications standards,protocols, and technologies.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 208, audio circuitry 210, speaker 211,microphone 213, touch screen 212, display controller 256, optical sensor264, optical sensor controller 258, contact/motion module 230, graphicsmodule 232, text input module 234, contacts module 237, and telephonemodule 238, video conference module 239 includes executable instructionsto initiate, conduct, and terminate a video conference between a userand one or more other participants in accordance with user instructions.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 208, touch screen 212, displaycontroller 256, contact/motion module 230, graphics module 232, and textinput module 234, e-mail client module 240 includes executableinstructions to create, send, receive, and manage e-mail in response touser instructions. In conjunction with image management module 244,e-mail client module 240 makes it very easy to create and send e-mailswith still or video images taken with camera module 243.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 208, touch screen 212, displaycontroller 256, contact/motion module 230, graphics module 232, and textinput module 234, the instant messaging module 241 includes executableinstructions to enter a sequence of characters corresponding to aninstant message, to modify previously entered characters, to transmit arespective instant message (for example, using a Short Message Service(SMS) or Multimedia Message Service (MMS) protocol for telephony-basedinstant messages or using XMPP, SIMPLE, or IMPS for Internet-basedinstant messages), to receive instant messages, and to view receivedinstant messages. In some embodiments, transmitted and/or receivedinstant messages may include graphics, photos, audio files, video filesand/or other attachments as are supported in an MMS and/or an EnhancedMessaging Service (EMS). As used herein, “instant messaging” refers toboth telephony-based messages (e.g., messages sent using SMS or MMS) andInternet-based messages (e.g., messages sent using XMPP, SIMPLE, orIMPS).

In conjunction with RF circuitry 208, touch screen 212, displaycontroller 256, contact/motion module 230, graphics module 232, textinput module 234, GPS module 235, map module 254, and music playermodule, workout support module 242 includes executable instructions tocreate workouts (e.g., with time, distance, and/or calorie burninggoals); communicate with workout sensors (sports devices); receiveworkout sensor data; calibrate sensors used to monitor a workout; selectand play music for a workout; and display, store, and transmit workoutdata.

In conjunction with touch screen 212, display controller 256, opticalsensor(s) 264, optical sensor controller 258, contact/motion module 230,graphics module 232, and image management module 244, camera module 243includes executable instructions to capture still images or video(including a video stream) and store them into memory 202, modifycharacteristics of a still image or video, or delete a still image orvideo from memory 202.

In conjunction with touch screen 212, display controller 256,contact/motion module 230, graphics module 232, text input module 234,and camera module 243, image management module 244 includes executableinstructions to arrange, modify (e.g., edit), or otherwise manipulate,label, delete, present (e.g., in a digital slide show or album), andstore still and/or video images.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 208, touch screen 212, displaycontroller 256, contact/motion module 230, graphics module 232, and textinput module 234, browser module 247 includes executable instructions tobrowse the Internet in accordance with user instructions, includingsearching, linking to, receiving, and displaying web pages or portionsthereof, as well as attachments and other files linked to web pages.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 208, touch screen 212, displaycontroller 256, contact/motion module 230, graphics module 232, textinput module 234, e-mail client module 240, and browser module 247,calendar module 248 includes executable instructions to create, display,modify, and store calendars and data associated with calendars (e.g.,calendar entries, to-do lists, etc.) in accordance with userinstructions.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 208, touch screen 212, displaycontroller 256, contact/motion module 230, graphics module 232, textinput module 234, and browser module 247, widget modules 249 aremini-applications that may be downloaded and used by a user (e.g.,weather widget 249-1, stocks widget 249-2, calculator widget 249-3,alarm clock widget 249-4, and dictionary widget 249-5) or created by theuser (e.g., user-created widget 249-6). In some embodiments, a widgetincludes an HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) file, a CSS (CascadingStyle Sheets) file, and a JavaScript file. In some embodiments, a widgetincludes an XML (Extensible Markup Language) file and a JavaScript file(e.g., Yahoo! Widgets).

In conjunction with RF circuitry 208, touch screen 212, displaycontroller 256, contact/motion module 230, graphics module 232, textinput module 234, and browser module 247, the widget creator module 250may be used by a user to create widgets (e.g., turning a user-specifiedportion of a web page into a widget).

In conjunction with touch screen 212, display controller 256,contact/motion module 230, graphics module 232, and text input module234, search module 251 includes executable instructions to search fortext, music, sound, image, video, and/or other files in memory 202 thatmatch one or more search criteria (e.g., one or more user-specifiedsearch terms) in accordance with user instructions.

In conjunction with touch screen 212, display controller 256,contact/motion module 230, graphics module 232, audio circuitry 210,speaker 211, RF circuitry 208, and browser module 247, video and musicplayer module 252 includes executable instructions that allow the userto download and play back recorded music and other sound files stored inone or more file formats, such as MP3 or AAC files, and executableinstructions to display, present, or otherwise play back videos (e.g.,on touch screen 212 or on an external, connected display via externalport 224). In some embodiments, device 200 optionally includes thefunctionality of an MP3 player, such as an iPod (trademark of AppleInc.).

In conjunction with touch screen 212, display controller 256,contact/motion module 230, graphics module 232, and text input module234, notes module 253 includes executable instructions to create andmanage notes, to-do lists, and the like in accordance with userinstructions.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 208, touch screen 212, displaycontroller 256, contact/motion module 230, graphics module 232, textinput module 234, GPS module 235, and browser module 247, map module 254may be used to receive, display, modify, and store maps and dataassociated with maps (e.g., driving directions, data on stores and otherpoints of interest at or near a particular location, and otherlocation-based data) in accordance with user instructions.

In conjunction with touch screen 212, display controller 256,contact/motion module 230, graphics module 232, audio circuitry 210,speaker 211, RF circuitry 208, text input module 234, e-mail clientmodule 240, and browser module 247, online video module 255 includesinstructions that allow the user to access, browse, receive (e.g., bystreaming and/or download), play back (e.g., on the touch screen or onan external, connected display via external port 224), send an e-mailwith a link to a particular online video, and otherwise manage onlinevideos in one or more file formats, such as H.264. In some embodiments,instant messaging module 241, rather than e-mail client module 240, isused to send a link to a particular online video. Additional descriptionof the online video application can be found in U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 60/936,562, “Portable Multifunction Device, Method, andGraphical User Interface for Playing Online Videos,” filed Jun. 20,2007, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/968,067, “PortableMultifunction Device, Method, and Graphical User Interface for PlayingOnline Videos,” filed Dec. 31, 2007, the contents of which are herebyincorporated by reference in their entirety.

Each of the above-identified modules and applications corresponds to aset of executable instructions for performing one or more functionsdescribed above and the methods described in this application (e.g., thecomputer-implemented methods and other information processing methodsdescribed herein). These modules (e.g., sets of instructions) need notbe implemented as separate software programs, procedures, or modules,and thus various subsets of these modules may be combined or otherwiserearranged in various embodiments. For example, video player module maybe combined with music player module into a single module (e.g., videoand music player module 252, FIG. 2A). In some embodiments, memory 202may store a subset of the modules and data structures identified above.Furthermore, memory 202 may store additional modules and data structuresnot described above.

In some embodiments, device 200 is a device where operation of apredefined set of functions on the device is performed exclusivelythrough a touch screen and/or a touchpad. By using a touch screen and/ora touchpad as the primary input control device for operation of device200, the number of physical input control devices (such as push buttons,dials, and the like) on device 200 may be reduced.

The predefined set of functions that are performed exclusively through atouch screen and/or a touchpad optionally include navigation betweenuser interfaces. In some embodiments, the touchpad, when touched by theuser, navigates device 200 to a main, home, or root menu from any userinterface that is displayed on device 200. In such embodiments, a “menubutton” is implemented using a touchpad. In some other embodiments, themenu button is a physical push button or other physical input controldevice instead of a touchpad.

FIG. 2B is a block diagram illustrating exemplary components for eventhandling in accordance with some embodiments. In some embodiments,memory 202 (FIG. 2A) or 470 (FIG. 4) includes event sorter 270 (e.g., inoperating system 226) and a respective application 236-1 (e.g., any ofthe aforementioned applications 237-251, 255, 480-490).

Event sorter 270 receives event information and determines theapplication 236-1 and application view 291 of application 236-1 to whichto deliver the event information. Event sorter 270 includes eventmonitor 271 and event dispatcher module 274. In some embodiments,application 236-1 includes application internal state 292, whichindicates the current application view(s) displayed on touch-sensitivedisplay 212 when the application is active or executing. In someembodiments, device/global internal state 257 is used by event sorter270 to determine which application(s) is (are) currently active, andapplication internal state 292 is used by event sorter 270 to determineapplication views 291 to which to deliver event information.

In some embodiments, application internal state 292 includes additionalinformation, such as one or more of: resume information to be used whenapplication 236-1 resumes execution, user interface state informationthat indicates information being displayed or that is ready for displayby application 236-1, a state queue for enabling the user to go back toa prior state or view of application 236-1, and a redo/undo queue ofprevious actions taken by the user.

Event monitor 271 receives event information from peripherals interface218. Event information includes information about a sub-event (e.g., auser touch on touch-sensitive display 212, as part of a multi-touchgesture). Peripherals interface 218 transmits information it receivesfrom I/O subsystem 206 or a sensor, such as proximity sensor 266,accelerometer(s) 268, and/or microphone 213 (through audio circuitry210). Information that peripherals interface 218 receives from I/Osubsystem 206 includes information from touch-sensitive display 212 or atouch-sensitive surface.

In some embodiments, event monitor 271 sends requests to the peripheralsinterface 218 at predetermined intervals. In response, peripheralsinterface 218 transmits event information. In other embodiments,peripherals interface 218 transmits event information only when there isa significant event (e.g., receiving an input above a predeterminednoise threshold and/or for more than a predetermined duration).

In some embodiments, event sorter 270 also includes a hit viewdetermination module 272 and/or an active event recognizer determinationmodule 273.

Hit view determination module 272 provides software procedures fordetermining where a sub-event has taken place within one or more viewswhen touch-sensitive display 212 displays more than one view. Views aremade up of controls and other elements that a user can see on thedisplay.

Another aspect of the user interface associated with an application is aset of views, sometimes herein called application views or userinterface windows, in which information is displayed and touch-basedgestures occur. The application views (of a respective application) inwhich a touch is detected may correspond to programmatic levels within aprogrammatic or view hierarchy of the application. For example, thelowest level view in which a touch is detected may be called the hitview, and the set of events that are recognized as proper inputs may bedetermined based, at least in part, on the hit view of the initial touchthat begins a touch-based gesture.

Hit view determination module 272 receives information related to subevents of a touch-based gesture. When an application has multiple viewsorganized in a hierarchy, hit view determination module 272 identifies ahit view as the lowest view in the hierarchy which should handle thesub-event. In most circumstances, the hit view is the lowest level viewin which an initiating sub-event occurs (e.g., the first sub-event inthe sequence of sub-events that form an event or potential event). Oncethe hit view is identified by the hit view determination module 272, thehit view typically receives all sub-events related to the same touch orinput source for which it was identified as the hit view.

Active event recognizer determination module 273 determines which viewor views within a view hierarchy should receive a particular sequence ofsub-events. In some embodiments, active event recognizer determinationmodule 273 determines that only the hit view should receive a particularsequence of sub-events. In other embodiments, active event recognizerdetermination module 273 determines that all views that include thephysical location of a sub-event are actively involved views, andtherefore determines that all actively involved views should receive aparticular sequence of sub-events. In other embodiments, even if touchsub-events were entirely confined to the area associated with oneparticular view, views higher in the hierarchy would still remain asactively involved views.

Event dispatcher module 274 dispatches the event information to an eventrecognizer (e.g., event recognizer 280). In embodiments including activeevent recognizer determination module 273, event dispatcher module 274delivers the event information to an event recognizer determined byactive event recognizer determination module 273. In some embodiments,event dispatcher module 274 stores in an event queue the eventinformation, which is retrieved by a respective event receiver 282.

In some embodiments, operating system 226 includes event sorter 270.Alternatively, application 236-1 includes event sorter 270. In yet otherembodiments, event sorter 270 is a stand-alone module, or a part ofanother module stored in memory 202, such as contact/motion module 230.

In some embodiments, application 236-1 includes a plurality of eventhandlers 290 and one or more application views 291, each of whichincludes instructions for handling touch events that occur within arespective view of the application's user interface. Each applicationview 291 of the application 236-1 includes one or more event recognizers280. Typically, a respective application view 291 includes a pluralityof event recognizers 280. In other embodiments, one or more of eventrecognizers 280 are part of a separate module, such as a user interfacekit (not shown) or a higher level object from which application 236-1inherits methods and other properties. In some embodiments, a respectiveevent handler 290 includes one or more of: data updater 276, objectupdater 277, GUI updater 278, and/or event data 279 received from eventsorter 270. Event handler 290 may utilize or call data updater 276,object updater 277, or GUI updater 278 to update the applicationinternal state 292. Alternatively, one or more of the application views291 include one or more respective event handlers 290. Also, in someembodiments, one or more of data updater 276, object updater 277, andGUI updater 278 are included in a respective application view 291.

A respective event recognizer 280 receives event information (e.g.,event data 279) from event sorter 270 and identifies an event from theevent information. Event recognizer 280 includes event receiver 282 andevent comparator 284. In some embodiments, event recognizer 280 alsoincludes at least a subset of: metadata 283, and event deliveryinstructions 288 (which may include sub-event delivery instructions).

Event receiver 282 receives event information from event sorter 270. Theevent information includes information about a sub-event, for example, atouch or a touch movement. Depending on the sub-event, the eventinformation also includes additional information, such as location ofthe sub-event. When the sub-event concerns motion of a touch, the eventinformation may also include speed and direction of the sub-event. Insome embodiments, events include rotation of the device from oneorientation to another (e.g., from a portrait orientation to a landscapeorientation, or vice versa), and the event information includescorresponding information about the current orientation (also calleddevice attitude) of the device.

Event comparator 284 compares the event information to predefined eventor sub-event definitions and, based on the comparison, determines anevent or sub event, or determines or updates the state of an event orsub-event. In some embodiments, event comparator 284 includes eventdefinitions 286. Event definitions 286 contain definitions of events(e.g., predefined sequences of sub-events), for example, event 1(287-1), event 2 (287-2), and others. In some embodiments, sub-events inan event (287) include, for example, touch begin, touch end, touchmovement, touch cancellation, and multiple touching. In one example, thedefinition for event 1 (287-1) is a double tap on a displayed object.The double tap, for example, comprises a first touch (touch begin) onthe displayed object for a predetermined phase, a first liftoff (touchend) for a predetermined phase, a second touch (touch begin) on thedisplayed object for a predetermined phase, and a second liftoff (touchend) for a predetermined phase. In another example, the definition forevent 2 (287-2) is a dragging on a displayed object. The dragging, forexample, comprises a touch (or contact) on the displayed object for apredetermined phase, a movement of the touch across touch-sensitivedisplay 212, and liftoff of the touch (touch end). In some embodiments,the event also includes information for one or more associated eventhandlers 290.

In some embodiments, event definition 287 includes a definition of anevent for a respective user-interface object. In some embodiments, eventcomparator 284 performs a hit test to determine which user-interfaceobject is associated with a sub-event. For example, in an applicationview in which three user-interface objects are displayed ontouch-sensitive display 212, when a touch is detected on touch-sensitivedisplay 212, event comparator 284 performs a hit test to determine whichof the three user-interface objects is associated with the touch(sub-event). If each displayed object is associated with a respectiveevent handler 290, the event comparator uses the result of the hit testto determine which event handler 290 should be activated. For example,event comparator 284 selects an event handler associated with thesub-event and the object triggering the hit test.

In some embodiments, the definition for a respective event (287) alsoincludes delayed actions that delay delivery of the event informationuntil after it has been determined whether the sequence of sub-eventsdoes or does not correspond to the event recognizer's event type.

When a respective event recognizer 280 determines that the series ofsub-events do not match any of the events in event definitions 286, therespective event recognizer 280 enters an event impossible, eventfailed, or event ended state, after which it disregards subsequentsub-events of the touch-based gesture. In this situation, other eventrecognizers, if any, that remain active for the hit view continue totrack and process sub-events of an ongoing touch-based gesture.

In some embodiments, a respective event recognizer 280 includes metadata283 with configurable properties, flags, and/or lists that indicate howthe event delivery system should perform sub-event delivery to activelyinvolved event recognizers. In some embodiments, metadata 283 includesconfigurable properties, flags, and/or lists that indicate how eventrecognizers may interact, or are enabled to interact, with one another.In some embodiments, metadata 283 includes configurable properties,flags, and/or lists that indicate whether sub-events are delivered tovarying levels in the view or programmatic hierarchy.

In some embodiments, a respective event recognizer 280 activates eventhandler 290 associated with an event when one or more particularsub-events of an event are recognized. In some embodiments, a respectiveevent recognizer 280 delivers event information associated with theevent to event handler 290. Activating an event handler 290 is distinctfrom sending (and deferred sending) sub-events to a respective hit view.In some embodiments, event recognizer 280 throws a flag associated withthe recognized event, and event handler 290 associated with the flagcatches the flag and performs a predefined process.

In some embodiments, event delivery instructions 288 include sub-eventdelivery instructions that deliver event information about a sub-eventwithout activating an event handler. Instead, the sub-event deliveryinstructions deliver event information to event handlers associated withthe series of sub-events or to actively involved views. Event handlersassociated with the series of sub-events or with actively involved viewsreceive the event information and perform a predetermined process.

In some embodiments, data updater 276 creates and updates data used inapplication 236-1. For example, data updater 276 updates the telephonenumber used in contacts module 237, or stores a video file used in videoplayer module. In some embodiments, object updater 277 creates andupdates objects used in application 236-1. For example, object updater277 creates a new user-interface object or updates the position of auser-interface object. GUI updater 278 updates the GUI. For example, GUIupdater 278 prepares display information and sends it to graphics module232 for display on a touch-sensitive display.

In some embodiments, event handler(s) 290 includes or has access to dataupdater 276, object updater 277, and GUI updater 278. In someembodiments, data updater 276, object updater 277, and GUI updater 278are included in a single module of a respective application 236-1 orapplication view 291. In other embodiments, they are included in two ormore software modules.

It shall be understood that the foregoing discussion regarding eventhandling of user touches on touch-sensitive displays also applies toother forms of user inputs to operate multifunction devices 200 withinput devices, not all of which are initiated on touch screens. Forexample, mouse movement and mouse button presses, optionally coordinatedwith single or multiple keyboard presses or holds; contact movementssuch as taps, drags, scrolls, etc. on touchpads; pen stylus inputs;movement of the device; oral instructions; detected eye movements;biometric inputs; and/or any combination thereof are optionally utilizedas inputs corresponding to sub-events which define an event to berecognized.

FIG. 3 illustrates a portable multifunction device 200 having a touchscreen 212 in accordance with some embodiments. The touch screenoptionally displays one or more graphics within user interface (UI) 300.In this embodiment, as well as others described below, a user is enabledto select one or more of the graphics by making a gesture on thegraphics, for example, with one or more fingers 302 (not drawn to scalein the figure) or one or more styluses 303 (not drawn to scale in thefigure). In some embodiments, selection of one or more graphics occurswhen the user breaks contact with the one or more graphics. In someembodiments, the gesture optionally includes one or more taps, one ormore swipes (from left to right, right to left, upward and/or downward),and/or a rolling of a finger (from right to left, left to right, upwardand/or downward) that has made contact with device 200. In someimplementations or circumstances, inadvertent contact with a graphicdoes not select the graphic. For example, a swipe gesture that sweepsover an application icon optionally does not select the correspondingapplication when the gesture corresponding to selection is a tap.

Device 200 may also include one or more physical buttons, such as “home”or menu button 304. As described previously, menu button 304 may be usedto navigate to any application 236 in a set of applications that may beexecuted on device 200. Alternatively, in some embodiments, the menubutton is implemented as a soft key in a GUI displayed on touch screen212.

In one embodiment, device 200 includes touch screen 212, menu button304, push button 306 for powering the device on/off and locking thedevice, volume adjustment button(s) 308, subscriber identity module(SIM) card slot 310, headset jack 312, and docking/charging externalport 224. Push button 306 is, optionally, used to turn the power on/offon the device by depressing the button and holding the button in thedepressed state for a predefined time interval; to lock the device bydepressing the button and releasing the button before the predefinedtime interval has elapsed; and/or to unlock the device or initiate anunlock process. In an alternative embodiment, device 200 also acceptsverbal input for activation or deactivation of some functions throughmicrophone 213. Device 200 also, optionally, includes one or morecontact intensity sensors 265 for detecting intensity of contacts ontouch screen 212 and/or one or more tactile output generators 267 forgenerating tactile outputs for a user of device 200.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an exemplary multifunction device with adisplay and a touch-sensitive surface in accordance with someembodiments. Device 400 need not be portable. In some embodiments,device 400 is a laptop computer, a desktop computer, a tablet computer,a multimedia player device, a navigation device, an educational device(such as a child's learning toy), a gaming system, or a control device(e.g., a home or industrial controller). Device 400 typically includesone or more processing units (CPUs) 410, one or more network or othercommunications interfaces 460, memory 470, and one or more communicationbuses 420 for interconnecting these components. Communication buses 420optionally include circuitry (sometimes called a chipset) thatinterconnects and controls communications between system components.Device 400 includes input/output (I/O) interface 430 comprising display440, which is typically a touch screen display. I/O interface 430 alsooptionally includes a keyboard and/or mouse (or other pointing device)450 and touchpad 455, tactile output generator 457 for generatingtactile outputs on device 400 (e.g., similar to tactile outputgenerator(s) 267 described above with reference to FIG. 2A), sensors 459(e.g., optical, acceleration, proximity, touch-sensitive, and/or contactintensity sensors similar to contact intensity sensor(s) 265 describedabove with reference to FIG. 2A). Memory 470 includes high-speed randomaccess memory, such as DRAM, SRAM, DDR RAM, or other random access solidstate memory devices; and optionally includes non-volatile memory, suchas one or more magnetic disk storage devices, optical disk storagedevices, flash memory devices, or other non-volatile solid state storagedevices. Memory 470 optionally includes one or more storage devicesremotely located from CPU(s) 410. In some embodiments, memory 470 storesprograms, modules, and data structures analogous to the programs,modules, and data structures stored in memory 202 of portablemultifunction device 200 (FIG. 2A), or a subset thereof. Furthermore,memory 470 optionally stores additional programs, modules, and datastructures not present in memory 202 of portable multifunction device200. For example, memory 470 of device 400 optionally stores drawingmodule 480, presentation module 482, word processing module 484, websitecreation module 486, disk authoring module 488, and/or spreadsheetmodule 490, while memory 202 of portable multifunction device 200 (FIG.2A) optionally does not store these modules.

Each of the above-identified elements in FIG. 4 may be stored in one ormore of the previously mentioned memory devices. Each of theabove-identified modules corresponds to a set of instructions forperforming a function described above. The above-identified modules orprograms (e.g., sets of instructions) need not be implemented asseparate software programs, procedures, or modules, and thus varioussubsets of these modules may be combined or otherwise rearranged invarious embodiments. In some embodiments, memory 470 may store a subsetof the modules and data structures identified above. Furthermore, memory470 may store additional modules and data structures not describedabove.

Attention is now directed towards embodiments of user interfaces thatmay be implemented on, for example, portable multifunction device 200.

FIG. 5A illustrates an exemplary user interface for a menu ofapplications on portable multifunction device 200 in accordance withsome embodiments. Similar user interfaces may be implemented on device400. In some embodiments, user interface 500 includes the followingelements, or a subset or superset thereof:

Signal strength indicator(s) 502 for wireless communication(s), such ascellular and Wi-Fi signals;

-   -   Time 504;    -   Bluetooth indicator 505;    -   Battery status indicator 506;    -   Tray 508 with icons for frequently used applications, such as:        -   Icon 516 for telephone module 238, labeled “Phone,” which            optionally includes an indicator 514 of the number of missed            calls or voicemail messages;        -   Icon 518 for e-mail client module 240, labeled “Mail,” which            optionally includes an indicator 510 of the number of unread            e-mails;        -   Icon 520 for browser module 247, labeled “Browser;” and        -   Icon 522 for video and music player module 252, also            referred to as iPod (trademark of Apple Inc.) module 252,            labeled “iPod;” and    -   Icons for other applications, such as:        -   Icon 524 for IM module 241, labeled “Messages;”        -   Icon 526 for calendar module 248, labeled “Calendar;”        -   Icon 528 for image management module 244, labeled “Photos;”        -   Icon 530 for camera module 243, labeled “Camera;”        -   Icon 532 for online video module 255, labeled “Online            Video;”        -   Icon 534 for stocks widget 249-2, labeled “Stocks;”        -   Icon 536 for map module 254, labeled “Maps;”        -   Icon 538 for weather widget 249-1, labeled “Weather;”        -   Icon 540 for alarm clock widget 249-4, labeled “Clock;”        -   Icon 542 for workout support module 242, labeled “Workout            Support;”        -   Icon 544 for notes module 253, labeled “Notes;” and        -   Icon 546 for a settings application or module, labeled            “Settings,” which provides access to settings for device 200            and its various applications 236.

It should be noted that the icon labels illustrated in FIG. 5A aremerely exemplary. For example, icon 522 for video and music playermodule 252 may optionally be labeled “Music” or “Music Player.” Otherlabels are, optionally, used for various application icons. In someembodiments, a label for a respective application icon includes a nameof an application corresponding to the respective application icon. Insome embodiments, a label for a particular application icon is distinctfrom a name of an application corresponding to the particularapplication icon.

FIG. 5B illustrates an exemplary user interface on a device (e.g.,device 400, FIG. 4) with a touch-sensitive surface 551 (e.g., a tabletor touchpad 455, FIG. 4) that is separate from the display 550 (e.g.,touch screen display 212). Device 400 also, optionally, includes one ormore contact intensity sensors (e.g., one or more of sensors 457) fordetecting intensity of contacts on touch-sensitive surface 551 and/orone or more tactile output generators 459 for generating tactile outputsfor a user of device 400.

Although some of the examples which follow will be given with referenceto inputs on touch screen display 212 (where the touch-sensitive surfaceand the display are combined), in some embodiments, the device detectsinputs on a touch-sensitive surface that is separate from the display,as shown in FIG. 5B. In some embodiments, the touch-sensitive surface(e.g., 551 in FIG. 5B) has a primary axis (e.g., 552 in FIG. 5B) thatcorresponds to a primary axis (e.g., 553 in FIG. 5B) on the display(e.g., 550). In accordance with these embodiments, the device detectscontacts (e.g., 560 and 562 in FIG. 5B) with the touch-sensitive surface551 at locations that correspond to respective locations on the display(e.g., in FIG. 5B, 560 corresponds to 568 and 562 corresponds to 570).In this way, user inputs (e.g., contacts 560 and 562, and movementsthereof) detected by the device on the touch-sensitive surface (e.g.,551 in FIG. 5B) are used by the device to manipulate the user interfaceon the display (e.g., 550 in FIG. 5B) of the multifunction device whenthe touch-sensitive surface is separate from the display. It should beunderstood that similar methods are, optionally, used for other userinterfaces described herein.

Additionally, while the following examples are given primarily withreference to finger inputs (e.g., finger contacts, finger tap gestures,finger swipe gestures), it should be understood that, in someembodiments, one or more of the finger inputs are replaced with inputfrom another input device (e.g., a mouse-based input or stylus input).For example, a swipe gesture is, optionally, replaced with a mouse click(e.g., instead of a contact) followed by movement of the cursor alongthe path of the swipe (e.g., instead of movement of the contact). Asanother example, a tap gesture is, optionally, replaced with a mouseclick while the cursor is located over the location of the tap gesture(e.g., instead of detection of the contact followed by ceasing to detectthe contact). Similarly, when multiple user inputs are simultaneouslydetected, it should be understood that multiple computer mice are,optionally, used simultaneously, or a mouse and finger contacts are,optionally, used simultaneously.

FIG. 6A illustrates exemplary personal electronic device 600. Device 600includes body 602. In some embodiments, device 600 can include some orall of the features described with respect to devices 200 and 400 (e.g.,FIGS. 2A-4B). In some embodiments, device 600 has touch-sensitivedisplay screen 604, hereafter touch screen 604. Alternatively, or inaddition to touch screen 604, device 600 has a display and atouch-sensitive surface. As with devices 200 and 400, in someembodiments, touch screen 604 (or the touch-sensitive surface) may haveone or more intensity sensors for detecting intensity of contacts (e.g.,touches) being applied. The one or more intensity sensors of touchscreen 604 (or the touch-sensitive surface) can provide output data thatrepresents the intensity of touches. The user interface of device 600can respond to touches based on their intensity, meaning that touches ofdifferent intensities can invoke different user interface operations ondevice 600.

Techniques for detecting and processing touch intensity may be found,for example, in related applications: International Patent ApplicationSerial No. PCT/US2013/040061, titled “Device, Method, and Graphical UserInterface for Displaying User Interface Objects Corresponding to anApplication,” filed May 8, 2013, and International Patent ApplicationSerial No. PCT/US2013/069483, titled “Device, Method, and Graphical UserInterface for Transitioning Between Touch Input to Display OutputRelationships,” filed Nov. 11, 2013, each of which is herebyincorporated by reference in their entirety.

In some embodiments, device 600 has one or more input mechanisms 606 and608. Input mechanisms 606 and 608, if included, can be physical.Examples of physical input mechanisms include push buttons and rotatablemechanisms. In some embodiments, device 600 has one or more attachmentmechanisms. Such attachment mechanisms, if included, can permitattachment of device 600 with, for example, hats, eyewear, earrings,necklaces, shirts, jackets, bracelets, watch straps, chains, trousers,belts, shoes, purses, backpacks, and so forth. These attachmentmechanisms may permit device 600 to be worn by a user.

FIG. 6B depicts exemplary personal electronic device 600. In someembodiments, device 600 can include some or all of the componentsdescribed with respect to FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 4. Device 600 has bus 612that operatively couples I/O section 614 with one or more computerprocessors 616 and memory 618. I/O section 614 can be connected todisplay 604, which can have touch-sensitive component 622 and,optionally, touch-intensity sensitive component 624. In addition, I/Osection 614 can be connected with communication unit 630 for receivingapplication and operating system data, using Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, nearfield communication (NFC), cellular, and/or other wireless communicationtechniques. Device 600 can include input mechanisms 606 and/or 608.Input mechanism 606 may be a rotatable input device or a depressible androtatable input device, for example. Input mechanism 608 may be abutton, in some examples.

Input mechanism 608 may be a microphone, in some examples. Personalelectronic device 600 can include various sensors, such as GPS sensor632, accelerometer 634, directional sensor 640 (e.g., compass),gyroscope 636, motion sensor 638, and/or a combination thereof, all ofwhich can be operatively connected to I/O section 614.

Memory 618 of personal electronic device 600 can be a non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium, for storing computer-executableinstructions, which, when executed by one or more computer processors616, for example, can cause the computer processors to perform thetechniques described below, including process 900 (FIGS. 8A-D). Thecomputer-executable instructions can also be stored and/or transportedwithin any non-transitory computer-readable storage medium for use by orin connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, ordevice, such as a computer-based system, processor-containing system, orother system that can fetch the instructions from the instructionexecution system, apparatus, or device and execute the instructions. Forpurposes of this document, a “non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium” can be any medium that can tangibly contain or storecomputer-executable instructions for use by or in connection with theinstruction execution system, apparatus, or device. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium can include, but is not limited to,magnetic, optical, and/or semiconductor storages. Examples of suchstorage include magnetic disks, optical discs based on CD, DVD, orBlu-ray technologies, as well as persistent solid-state memory such asflash, solid-state drives, and the like. Personal electronic device 600is not limited to the components and configuration of FIG. 6B, but caninclude other or additional components in multiple configurations.

As used here, the term “affordance” refers to a user-interactivegraphical user interface object that may be displayed on the displayscreen of devices 200, 400, and/or 600 (FIGS. 2, 4, and 6). For example,an image (e.g., icon), a button, and text (e.g., hyperlink) may eachconstitute an affordance.

As used herein, the term “focus selector” refers to an input elementthat indicates a current part of a user interface with which a user isinteracting. In some implementations that include a cursor or otherlocation marker, the cursor acts as a “focus selector” so that when aninput (e.g., a press input) is detected on a touch-sensitive surface(e.g., touchpad 455 in FIG. 4 or touch-sensitive surface 551 in FIG. 5B)while the cursor is over a particular user interface element (e.g., abutton, window, slider or other user interface element), the particularuser interface element is adjusted in accordance with the detectedinput. In some implementations that include a touch screen display(e.g., touch-sensitive display system 212 in FIG. 2A or touch screen 212in FIG. 5A) that enables direct interaction with user interface elementson the touch screen display, a detected contact on the touch screen actsas a “focus selector” so that when an input (e.g., a press input by thecontact) is detected on the touch screen display at a location of aparticular user interface element (e.g., a button, window, slider, orother user interface element), the particular user interface element isadjusted in accordance with the detected input. In some implementations,focus is moved from one region of a user interface to another region ofthe user interface without corresponding movement of a cursor ormovement of a contact on a touch screen display (e.g., by using a tabkey or arrow keys to move focus from one button to another button); inthese implementations, the focus selector moves in accordance withmovement of focus between different regions of the user interface.Without regard to the specific form taken by the focus selector, thefocus selector is generally the user interface element (or contact on atouch screen display) that is controlled by the user so as tocommunicate the user's intended interaction with the user interface(e.g., by indicating, to the device, the element of the user interfacewith which the user is intending to interact). For example, the locationof a focus selector (e.g., a cursor, a contact, or a selection box) overa respective button while a press input is detected on thetouch-sensitive surface (e.g., a touchpad or touch screen) will indicatethat the user is intending to activate the respective button (as opposedto other user interface elements shown on a display of the device).

As used in the specification and claims, the term “characteristicintensity” of a contact refers to a characteristic of the contact basedon one or more intensities of the contact. In some embodiments, thecharacteristic intensity is based on multiple intensity samples. Thecharacteristic intensity is, optionally, based on a predefined number ofintensity samples, or a set of intensity samples collected during apredetermined time period (e.g., 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, 1, 2, 5, 10seconds) relative to a predefined event (e.g., after detecting thecontact, prior to detecting liftoff of the contact, before or afterdetecting a start of movement of the contact, prior to detecting an endof the contact, before or after detecting an increase in intensity ofthe contact, and/or before or after detecting a decrease in intensity ofthe contact). A characteristic intensity of a contact is, optionallybased on one or more of: a maximum value of the intensities of thecontact, a mean value of the intensities of the contact, an averagevalue of the intensities of the contact, a top 10 percentile value ofthe intensities of the contact, a value at the half maximum of theintensities of the contact, a value at the 90 percent maximum of theintensities of the contact, or the like. In some embodiments, theduration of the contact is used in determining the characteristicintensity (e.g., when the characteristic intensity is an average of theintensity of the contact over time). In some embodiments, thecharacteristic intensity is compared to a set of one or more intensitythresholds to determine whether an operation has been performed by auser. For example, the set of one or more intensity thresholds mayinclude a first intensity threshold and a second intensity threshold. Inthis example, a contact with a characteristic intensity that does notexceed the first threshold results in a first operation, a contact witha characteristic intensity that exceeds the first intensity thresholdand does not exceed the second intensity threshold results in a secondoperation, and a contact with a characteristic intensity that exceedsthe second threshold results in a third operation. In some embodiments,a comparison between the characteristic intensity and one or morethresholds is used to determine whether or not to perform one or moreoperations (e.g., whether to perform a respective operation or forgoperforming the respective operation) rather than being used to determinewhether to perform a first operation or a second operation.

In some embodiments, a portion of a gesture is identified for purposesof determining a characteristic intensity. For example, atouch-sensitive surface may receive a continuous swipe contacttransitioning from a start location and reaching an end location, atwhich point the intensity of the contact increases. In this example, thecharacteristic intensity of the contact at the end location may be basedon only a portion of the continuous swipe contact, and not the entireswipe contact (e.g., only the portion of the swipe contact at the endlocation). In some embodiments, a smoothing algorithm may be applied tothe intensities of the swipe contact prior to determining thecharacteristic intensity of the contact. For example, the smoothingalgorithm optionally includes one or more of: an unweightedsliding-average smoothing algorithm, a triangular smoothing algorithm, amedian filter smoothing algorithm, and/or an exponential smoothingalgorithm. In some circumstances, these smoothing algorithms eliminatenarrow spikes or dips in the intensities of the swipe contact forpurposes of determining a characteristic intensity.

The intensity of a contact on the touch-sensitive surface may becharacterized relative to one or more intensity thresholds, such as acontact-detection intensity threshold, a light press intensitythreshold, a deep press intensity threshold, and/or one or more otherintensity thresholds. In some embodiments, the light press intensitythreshold corresponds to an intensity at which the device will performoperations typically associated with clicking a button of a physicalmouse or a trackpad. In some embodiments, the deep press intensitythreshold corresponds to an intensity at which the device will performoperations that are different from operations typically associated withclicking a button of a physical mouse or a trackpad. In someembodiments, when a contact is detected with a characteristic intensitybelow the light press intensity threshold (e.g., and above a nominalcontact-detection intensity threshold below which the contact is nolonger detected), the device will move a focus selector in accordancewith movement of the contact on the touch-sensitive surface withoutperforming an operation associated with the light press intensitythreshold or the deep press intensity threshold. Generally, unlessotherwise stated, these intensity thresholds are consistent betweendifferent sets of user interface figures.

An increase of characteristic intensity of the contact from an intensitybelow the light press intensity threshold to an intensity between thelight press intensity threshold and the deep press intensity thresholdis sometimes referred to as a “light press” input. An increase ofcharacteristic intensity of the contact from an intensity below the deeppress intensity threshold to an intensity above the deep press intensitythreshold is sometimes referred to as a “deep press” input. An increaseof characteristic intensity of the contact from an intensity below thecontact-detection intensity threshold to an intensity between thecontact-detection intensity threshold and the light press intensitythreshold is sometimes referred to as detecting the contact on thetouch-surface. A decrease of characteristic intensity of the contactfrom an intensity above the contact-detection intensity threshold to anintensity below the contact-detection intensity threshold is sometimesreferred to as detecting liftoff of the contact from the touch-surface.In some embodiments, the contact-detection intensity threshold is zero.In some embodiments, the contact-detection intensity threshold isgreater than zero.

In some embodiments described herein, one or more operations areperformed in response to detecting a gesture that includes a respectivepress input or in response to detecting the respective press inputperformed with a respective contact (or a plurality of contacts), wherethe respective press input is detected based at least in part ondetecting an increase in intensity of the contact (or plurality ofcontacts) above a press-input intensity threshold. In some embodiments,the respective operation is performed in response to detecting theincrease in intensity of the respective contact above the press-inputintensity threshold (e.g., a “down stroke” of the respective pressinput). In some embodiments, the press input includes an increase inintensity of the respective contact above the press-input intensitythreshold and a subsequent decrease in intensity of the contact belowthe press-input intensity threshold, and the respective operation isperformed in response to detecting the subsequent decrease in intensityof the respective contact below the press-input threshold (e.g., an “upstroke” of the respective press input).

In some embodiments, the device employs intensity hysteresis to avoidaccidental inputs sometimes termed “jitter,” where the device defines orselects a hysteresis intensity threshold with a predefined relationshipto the press-input intensity threshold (e.g., the hysteresis intensitythreshold is X intensity units lower than the press-input intensitythreshold or the hysteresis intensity threshold is 75%, 90%, or somereasonable proportion of the press-input intensity threshold). Thus, insome embodiments, the press input includes an increase in intensity ofthe respective contact above the press-input intensity threshold and asubsequent decrease in intensity of the contact below the hysteresisintensity threshold that corresponds to the press-input intensitythreshold, and the respective operation is performed in response todetecting the subsequent decrease in intensity of the respective contactbelow the hysteresis intensity threshold (e.g., an “up stroke” of therespective press input). Similarly, in some embodiments, the press inputis detected only when the device detects an increase in intensity of thecontact from an intensity at or below the hysteresis intensity thresholdto an intensity at or above the press-input intensity threshold and,optionally, a subsequent decrease in intensity of the contact to anintensity at or below the hysteresis intensity, and the respectiveoperation is performed in response to detecting the press input (e.g.,the increase in intensity of the contact or the decrease in intensity ofthe contact, depending on the circumstances).

For ease of explanation, the descriptions of operations performed inresponse to a press input associated with a press-input intensitythreshold or in response to a gesture including the press input are,optionally, triggered in response to detecting either: an increase inintensity of a contact above the press-input intensity threshold, anincrease in intensity of a contact from an intensity below thehysteresis intensity threshold to an intensity above the press-inputintensity threshold, a decrease in intensity of the contact below thepress-input intensity threshold, and/or a decrease in intensity of thecontact below the hysteresis intensity threshold corresponding to thepress-input intensity threshold. Additionally, in examples where anoperation is described as being performed in response to detecting adecrease in intensity of a contact below the press-input intensitythreshold, the operation is, optionally, performed in response todetecting a decrease in intensity of the contact below a hysteresisintensity threshold corresponding to, and lower than, the press-inputintensity threshold.

3. Digital Assistant System

FIG. 7A illustrates a block diagram of digital assistant system 700 inaccordance with various examples. In some examples, digital assistantsystem 700 can be implemented on a standalone computer system. In someexamples, digital assistant system 700 can be distributed acrossmultiple computers. In some examples, some of the modules and functionsof the digital assistant can be divided into a server portion and aclient portion, where the client portion resides on one or more userdevices (e.g., devices 104, 122, 200, 400, or 600) and communicates withthe server portion (e.g., server system 108) through one or morenetworks, e.g., as shown in FIG. 1. In some examples, digital assistantsystem 700 can be an implementation of server system 108 (and/or DAserver 106) shown in FIG. 1. It should be noted that digital assistantsystem 700 is only one example of a digital assistant system, and thatdigital assistant system 700 can have more or fewer components thanshown, may combine two or more components, or may have a differentconfiguration or arrangement of the components. The various componentsshown in FIG. 7A can be implemented in hardware, software instructionsfor execution by one or more processors, firmware, including one or moresignal processing and/or application specific integrated circuits, or acombination thereof.

Digital assistant system 700 can include memory 702, one or moreprocessors 704, input/output (I/O) interface 706, and networkcommunications interface 708. These components can communicate with oneanother over one or more communication buses or signal lines 710.

In some examples, memory 702 can include a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium, such as high-speed random access memory and/ora non-volatile computer-readable storage medium (e.g., one or moremagnetic disk storage devices, flash memory devices, or othernon-volatile solid-state memory devices).

In some examples, I/O interface 706 can couple input/output devices 716of digital assistant system 700, such as displays, keyboards, touchscreens, and microphones, to user interface module 722. I/O interface706, in conjunction with user interface module 722, can receive userinputs (e.g., voice input, keyboard inputs, touch inputs, etc.) andprocesses them accordingly. In some examples, e.g., when the digitalassistant is implemented on a standalone user device, digital assistantsystem 700 can include any of the components and I/O communicationinterfaces described with respect to devices 200, 400, or 600 in FIGS.2A, 4, 6A-B, respectively. In some examples, digital assistant system700 can represent the server portion of a digital assistantimplementation, and can interact with the user through a client-sideportion residing on a user device (e.g., devices 104, 200, 400, or 600).

In some examples, the network communications interface 708 can includewired communication port(s) 712 and/or wireless transmission andreception circuitry 714. The wired communication port(s) can receive andsend communication signals via one or more wired interfaces, e.g.,Ethernet, Universal Serial Bus (USB), FIREWIRE, etc. The wirelesscircuitry 714 can receive and send RF signals and/or optical signalsfrom/to communications networks and other communications devices. Thewireless communications can use any of a plurality of communicationsstandards, protocols, and technologies, such as GSM, EDGE, CDMA, TDMA,Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, VoIP, Wi-MAX, or any other suitable communicationprotocol. Network communications interface 708 can enable communicationbetween digital assistant system 700 with networks, such as theInternet, an intranet, and/or a wireless network, such as a cellulartelephone network, a wireless local area network (LAN), and/or ametropolitan area network (MAN), and other devices.

In some examples, memory 702, or the computer-readable storage media ofmemory 702, can store programs, modules, instructions, and datastructures including all or a subset of: operating system 718,communications module 720, user interface module 722, one or moreapplications 724, and digital assistant module 726. In particular,memory 702, or the computer-readable storage media of memory 702, canstore instructions for performing process 900, described below. One ormore processors 704 can execute these programs, modules, andinstructions, and reads/writes from/to the data structures.

Operating system 718 (e.g., Darwin, RTXC, LINUX, UNIX, iOS, OS X,WINDOWS, or an embedded operating system such as VxWorks) can includevarious software components and/or drivers for controlling and managinggeneral system tasks (e.g., memory management, storage device control,power management, etc.) and facilitates communications between varioushardware, firmware, and software components.

Communications module 720 can facilitate communications between digitalassistant system 700 with other devices over network communicationsinterface 708. For example, communications module 720 can communicatewith RF circuitry 208 of electronic devices such as devices 200, 400,and 600 shown in FIG. 2A, 4, 6A-B, respectively. Communications module720 can also include various components for handling data received bywireless circuitry 714 and/or wired communications port 712.

User interface module 722 can receive commands and/or inputs from a uservia I/O interface 706 (e.g., from a keyboard, touch screen, pointingdevice, controller, and/or microphone), and generate user interfaceobjects on a display. User interface module 722 can also prepare anddeliver outputs (e.g., speech, sound, animation, text, icons,vibrations, haptic feedback, light, etc.) to the user via the I/Ointerface 706 (e.g., through displays, audio channels, speakers,touch-pads, etc.).

Applications 724 can include programs and/or modules that are configuredto be executed by one or more processors 704. For example, if thedigital assistant system is implemented on a standalone user device,applications 724 can include user applications, such as games, acalendar application, a navigation application, or an email application.If digital assistant system 700 is implemented on a server, applications724 can include resource management applications, diagnosticapplications, or scheduling applications, for example.

Memory 702 can also store digital assistant module 726 (or the serverportion of a digital assistant). In some examples, digital assistantmodule 726 can include the following sub-modules, or a subset orsuperset thereof: input/output processing module 728, speech-to-text(STT) processing module 730, natural language processing module 732,dialogue flow processing module 734, task flow processing module 736,service processing module 738, and speech synthesis module 740. Each ofthese modules can have access to one or more of the following systems ordata and models of the digital assistant module 726, or a subset orsuperset thereof: ontology 760, vocabulary index 744, user data 748,task flow models 754, service models 756, and ASR systems.

In some examples, using the processing modules, data, and modelsimplemented in digital assistant module 726, the digital assistant canperform at least some of the following: converting speech input intotext; identifying a user's intent expressed in a natural language inputreceived from the user; actively eliciting and obtaining informationneeded to fully infer the user's intent (e.g., by disambiguating words,games, intentions, etc.); determining the task flow for fulfilling theinferred intent; and executing the task flow to fulfill the inferredintent.

In some examples, as shown in FIG. 7B, I/O processing module 728 caninteract with the user through I/O devices 716 in FIG. 7A or with a userdevice (e.g., devices 104, 200, 400, or 600) through networkcommunications interface 708 in FIG. 7A to obtain user input (e.g., aspeech input) and to provide responses (e.g., as speech outputs) to theuser input. I/O processing module 728 can optionally obtain contextualinformation associated with the user input from the user device, alongwith or shortly after the receipt of the user input. The contextualinformation can include user-specific data, vocabulary, and/orpreferences relevant to the user input. In some examples, the contextualinformation also includes software and hardware states of the userdevice at the time the user request is received, and/or informationrelated to the surrounding environment of the user at the time that theuser request was received. In some examples, I/O processing module 728can also send follow-up questions to, and receive answers from, the userregarding the user request. When a user request is received by I/Oprocessing module 728 and the user request can include speech input, I/Oprocessing module 728 can forward the speech input to STT processingmodule 730 (or speech recognizer) for speech-to-text conversions.

STT processing module 730 can include one or more ASR systems. The oneor more ASR systems can process the speech input that is receivedthrough I/O processing module 728 to produce a recognition result. EachASR system can include a front-end speech pre-processor. The front-endspeech pre-processor can extract representative features from the speechinput. For example, the front-end speech pre-processor can perform aFourier transform on the speech input to extract spectral features thatcharacterize the speech input as a sequence of representativemulti-dimensional vectors. Further, each ASR system can include one ormore speech recognition models (e.g., acoustic models and/or languagemodels) and can implement one or more speech recognition engines.Examples of speech recognition models can include Hidden Markov Models,Gaussian-Mixture Models, Deep Neural Network Models, n-gram languagemodels, and other statistical models. Examples of speech recognitionengines can include the dynamic time warping based engines and weightedfinite-state transducers (WFST) based engines. The one or more speechrecognition models and the one or more speech recognition engines can beused to process the extracted representative features of the front-endspeech pre-processor to produce intermediate recognitions results (e.g.,phonemes, phonemic strings, and sub-words), and ultimately, textrecognition results (e.g., words, word strings, or sequence of tokens).In some examples, the speech input can be processed at least partiallyby a third-party service or on the user's device (e.g., device 104, 200,400, or 600) to produce the recognition result. Once STT processingmodule 730 produces recognition results containing a text string (e.g.,words, or sequence of words, or sequence of tokens), the recognitionresult can be passed to natural language processing module 732 forintent deduction.

More details on the speech-to-text processing are described in U.S.Utility Application Ser. No. 13/236,942 for “Consolidating SpeechRecognition Results,” filed on Sep. 20, 2011, the entire disclosure ofwhich is incorporated herein by reference.

In some examples, STT processing module 730 can include and/or access avocabulary of recognizable words via phonetic alphabet conversion module731. Each vocabulary word can be associated with one or more candidatepronunciations of the word represented in a speech recognition phoneticalphabet. In particular, the vocabulary of recognizable words caninclude a word that is associated with a plurality of candidatepronunciations. For example, the vocabulary may include the word“tomato” that is associated with the candidate pronunciations of/

/and/

/. Further, vocabulary words can be associated with custom candidatepronunciations that are based on previous speech inputs from the user.Such custom candidate pronunciations can be stored in STT processingmodule 730 and can be associated with a particular user via the user'sprofile on the device. In some examples, the candidate pronunciationsfor words can be determined based on the spelling of the word and one ormore linguistic and/or phonetic rules. In some examples, the candidatepronunciations can be manually generated, e.g., based on known canonicalpronunciations.

In some examples, the candidate pronunciations can be ranked based onthe commonness of the candidate pronunciation. For example, thecandidate pronunciation /

/can be ranked higher than /

/, because the former is a more commonly used pronunciation (e.g., amongall users, for users in a particular geographical region, or for anyother appropriate subset of users). In some examples, candidatepronunciations can be ranked based on whether the candidatepronunciation is a custom candidate pronunciation associated with theuser. For example, custom candidate pronunciations can be ranked higherthan canonical candidate pronunciations. This can be useful forrecognizing proper nouns having a unique pronunciation that deviatesfrom canonical pronunciation. In some examples, candidate pronunciationscan be associated with one or more speech characteristics, such asgeographic origin, nationality, or ethnicity. For example, the candidatepronunciation/

/can be associated with the United States, whereas the candidatepronunciation/

/can be associated with Great Britain. Further, the rank of thecandidate pronunciation can be based on one or more characteristics(e.g., geographic origin, nationality, ethnicity, etc.) of the userstored in the user's profile on the device. For example, it can bedetermined from the user's profile that the user is associated with theUnited States. Based on the user being associated with the UnitedStates, the candidate pronunciation/

/(associated with the United States) can be ranked higher than thecandidate pronunciation/t

/(associated with Great Britain). In some examples, one of the rankedcandidate pronunciations can be selected as a predicted pronunciation(e.g., the most likely pronunciation).

When a speech input is received, STT processing module 730 can be usedto determine the phonemes corresponding to the speech input (e.g., usingan acoustic model), and then attempt to determine words that match thephonemes (e.g., using a language model). For example, if STT processingmodule 730 can first identify the sequence of phonemes/

/corresponding to a portion of the speech input, it can then determine,based on vocabulary index 744, that this sequence corresponds to theword “tomato.”

In some examples, STT processing module 730 can use approximate matchingtechniques to determine words in an utterance. Thus, for example, theSTT processing module 730 can determine that the sequence of phonemes/

/corresponds to the word “tomato,” even if that particular sequence ofphonemes is not one of the candidate sequence of phonemes for that word.

In some examples, natural language processing module 732 can beconfigured to receive metadata associated with the speech input. Themetadata can indicate whether to perform natural language processing onthe speech input (or the sequence of words or tokens corresponding tothe speech input). If the metadata indicates that natural languageprocessing is to be performed, then the natural language processingmodule can receive the sequence of words or tokens from the STTprocessing module to perform natural language processing. However, ifthe metadata indicates that natural language process is not to beperformed, then the natural language processing module can be disabledand the sequence of words or tokens (e.g., text string) from the STTprocessing module can be outputted from the digital assistant. In someexamples, the metadata can further identify one or more domainscorresponding to the user request. Based on the one or more domains, thenatural language processor can disable domains in ontology 760 otherthan the one or more domains. In this way, natural language processingis constrained to the one or more domains in ontology 760. Inparticular, the structure query (described below) can be generated usingthe one or more domains and not the other domains in the ontology.

Natural language processing module 732 (“natural language processor”) ofthe digital assistant can take the sequence of words or tokens (“tokensequence”) generated by STT processing module 730, and attempt toassociate the token sequence with one or more “actionable intents”recognized by the digital assistant. An “actionable intent” canrepresent a task that can be performed by the digital assistant, and canhave an associated task flow implemented in task flow models 754. Theassociated task flow can be a series of programmed actions and stepsthat the digital assistant takes in order to perform the task. The scopeof a digital assistant's capabilities can be dependent on the number andvariety of task flows that have been implemented and stored in task flowmodels 754, or in other words, on the number and variety of “actionableintents” that the digital assistant recognizes. The effectiveness of thedigital assistant, however, can also be dependent on the assistant'sability to infer the correct “actionable intent(s)” from the userrequest expressed in natural language.

In some examples, in addition to the sequence of words or tokensobtained from STT processing module 730, natural language processingmodule 732 can also receive contextual information associated with theuser request, e.g., from I/O processing module 728. The natural languageprocessing module 732 can optionally use the contextual information toclarify, supplement, and/or further define the information contained inthe token sequence received from STT processing module 730. Thecontextual information can include, for example, user preferences,hardware, and/or software states of the user device, sensor informationcollected before, during, or shortly after the user request, priorinteractions (e.g., dialogue) between the digital assistant and theuser, and the like. As described herein, contextual information can bedynamic, and can change with time, location, content of the dialogue,and other factors.

In some examples, the natural language processing can be based on, e.g.,ontology 760. Ontology 760 can be a hierarchical structure containingmany nodes, each node representing either an “actionable intent” or a“property” relevant to one or more of the “actionable intents” or other“properties.” As noted above, an “actionable intent” can represent atask that the digital assistant is capable of performing, i.e., it is“actionable” or can be acted on. A “property” can represent a parameterassociated with an actionable intent or a sub-aspect of anotherproperty. A linkage between an actionable intent node and a propertynode in ontology 760 can define how a parameter represented by theproperty node pertains to the task represented by the actionable intentnode.

In some examples, ontology 760 can be made up of actionable intent nodesand property nodes. Within ontology 760, each actionable intent node canbe linked to one or more property nodes either directly or through oneor more intermediate property nodes. Similarly, each property node canbe linked to one or more actionable intent nodes either directly orthrough one or more intermediate property nodes. For example, as shownin FIG. 7C, ontology 760 can include a “restaurant reservation” node(i.e., an actionable intent node). Property nodes “restaurant,”“date/time” (for the reservation), and “party size” can each be directlylinked to the actionable intent node (i.e., the “restaurant reservation”node).

In addition, property nodes “cuisine,” “price range,” “phone number,”and “location” can be sub-nodes of the property node “restaurant,” andcan each be linked to the “restaurant reservation” node (i.e., theactionable intent node) through the intermediate property node“restaurant.” For another example, as shown in FIG. 7C, ontology 760 canalso include a “set reminder” node (i.e., another actionable intentnode). Property nodes “date/time” (for setting the reminder) and“subject” (for the reminder) can each be linked to the “set reminder”node. Since the property “date/time” can be relevant to both the task ofmaking a restaurant reservation and the task of setting a reminder, theproperty node “date/time” can be linked to both the “restaurantreservation” node and the “set reminder” node in ontology 760.

An actionable intent node, along with its linked concept nodes, can bedescribed as a “domain.” In the present discussion, each domain can beassociated with a respective actionable intent, and refers to the groupof nodes (and the relationships there between) associated with theparticular actionable intent. For example, ontology 760 shown in FIG. 7Ccan include an example of restaurant reservation domain 762 and anexample of reminder domain 764 within ontology 760. The restaurantreservation domain includes the actionable intent node “restaurantreservation,” property nodes “restaurant,” “date/time,” and “partysize,” and sub-property nodes “cuisine,” “price range,” “phone number,”and “location.” Reminder domain 764 can include the actionable intentnode “set reminder,” and property nodes “subject” and “date/time.” Insome examples, ontology 760 can be made up of many domains. Each domaincan share one or more property nodes with one or more other domains. Forexample, the “date/time” property node can be associated with manydifferent domains (e.g., a scheduling domain, a travel reservationdomain, a movie ticket domain, etc.), in addition to restaurantreservation domain 762 and reminder domain 764.

While FIG. 7C illustrates two example domains within ontology 760, otherdomains can include, for example, “find a movie,” “initiate a phonecall,” “find directions,” “schedule a meeting,” “send a message,” and“provide an answer to a question,” “read a list,” “providing navigationinstructions,” “provide instructions for a task” and so on. A “send amessage” domain can be associated with a “send a message” actionableintent node, and may further include property nodes such as“recipient(s),” “message type,” and “message body.” The property node“recipient” can be further defined, for example, by the sub-propertynodes such as “recipient name” and “message address.”

In some examples, ontology 760 can include all the domains (and henceactionable intents) that the digital assistant is capable ofunderstanding and acting upon. In some examples, ontology 760 can bemodified, such as by adding or removing entire domains or nodes, or bymodifying relationships between the nodes within the ontology 760.

In some examples, nodes associated with multiple related actionableintents can be clustered under a “super domain” in ontology 760. Forexample, a “travel” super-domain can include a cluster of property nodesand actionable intent nodes related to travel. The actionable intentnodes related to travel can include “airline reservation,” “hotelreservation,” “car rental,” “get directions,” “find points of interest,”and so on. The actionable intent nodes under the same super domain(e.g., the “travel” super domain) can have many property nodes incommon. For example, the actionable intent nodes for “airlinereservation,” “hotel reservation,” “car rental,” “get directions,” and“find points of interest” can share one or more of the property nodes“start location,” “destination,” “departure date/time,” “arrivaldate/time,” and “party size.”

In some examples, each node in ontology 760 can be associated with a setof words and/or phrases that are relevant to the property or actionableintent represented by the node. The respective set of words and/orphrases associated with each node can be the so-called “vocabulary”associated with the node. The respective set of words and/or phrasesassociated with each node can be stored in vocabulary index 744 inassociation with the property or actionable intent represented by thenode. For example, returning to FIG. 7B, the vocabulary associated withthe node for the property of “restaurant” can include words such as“food,” “drinks,” “cuisine,” “hungry,” “eat,” “pizza,” “fast food,”“meal,” and so on. For another example, the vocabulary associated withthe node for the actionable intent of “initiate a phone call” caninclude words and phrases such as “call,” “phone,” “dial,” “ring,” “callthis number,” “make a call to,” and so on. The vocabulary index 744 canoptionally include words and phrases in different languages.

Natural language processing module 732 can receive the token sequence(e.g., a text string) from STT processing module 730, and determine whatnodes are implicated by the words in the token sequence. In someexamples, if a word or phrase in the token sequence is found to beassociated with one or more nodes in ontology 760 (via vocabulary index744), the word or phrase can “trigger” or “activate” those nodes. Basedon the quantity and/or relative importance of the activated nodes,natural language processing module 732 can select one of the actionableintents as the task that the user intended the digital assistant toperform. In some examples, the domain that has the most “triggered”nodes can be selected. In some examples, the domain having the highestconfidence value (e.g., based on the relative importance of its varioustriggered nodes) can be selected. In some examples, the domain can beselected based on a combination of the number and the importance of thetriggered nodes. In some examples, additional factors are considered inselecting the node as well, such as whether the digital assistant haspreviously correctly interpreted a similar request from a user.

User data 748 can include user-specific information, such asuser-specific vocabulary, user preferences, user address, user's defaultand secondary languages, user's contact list, and other short-term orlong-term information for each user. In some examples, natural languageprocessing module 732 can use the user-specific information tosupplement the information contained in the user input to further definethe user intent. For example, for a user request “invite my friends tomy birthday party,” natural language processing module 732 can be ableto access user data 748 to determine who the “friends” are and when andwhere the “birthday party” would be held, rather than requiring the userto provide such information explicitly in his/her request.

Other details of searching an ontology based on a token string isdescribed in U.S. Utility application Ser. No. 12/341,743 for “Methodand Apparatus for Searching Using An Active Ontology,” filed Dec. 22,2008, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein byreference.

In some examples, once natural language processing module 732 identifiesan actionable intent (or domain) based on the user request, naturallanguage processing module 732 can generate a structured query torepresent the identified actionable intent. In some examples, thestructured query can include parameters for one or more nodes within thedomain for the actionable intent, and at least some of the parametersare populated with the specific information and requirements specifiedin the user request. For example, the user may say “Make me a dinnerreservation at a sushi place at 7.” In this case, natural languageprocessing module 732 can be able to correctly identify the actionableintent to be “restaurant reservation” based on the user input. Accordingto the ontology, a structured query for a “restaurant reservation”domain may include parameters such as {Cuisine}, {Time}, {Date}, {PartySize}, and the like. In some examples, based on the speech input and thetext derived from the speech input using STT processing module 730,natural language processing module 732 can generate a partial structuredquery for the restaurant reservation domain, where the partialstructured query includes the parameters {Cuisine=“Sushi”} and {Time=“7pm”}. However, in this example, the user's utterance containsinsufficient information to complete the structured query associatedwith the domain. Therefore, other necessary parameters such as {PartySize} and {Date} may not be specified in the structured query based onthe information currently available. In some examples, natural languageprocessing module 732 can populate some parameters of the structuredquery with received contextual information. For example, in someexamples, if the user requested a sushi restaurant “near me,” naturallanguage processing module 732 can populate a {location} parameter inthe structured query with GPS coordinates from the user device.

In some examples, natural language processing module 732 can pass thegenerated structured query (including any completed parameters) to taskflow processing module 736 (“task flow processor”). Task flow processingmodule 736 can be configured to receive the structured query fromnatural language processing module 732, complete the structured query,if necessary, and perform the actions required to “complete” the user'sultimate request. In some examples, the various procedures necessary tocomplete these tasks can be provided in task flow models 754. In someexamples, task flow models 754 can include procedures for obtainingadditional information from the user and task flows for performingactions associated with the actionable intent.

As described above, in order to complete a structured query, task flowprocessing module 736 may need to initiate additional dialogue with theuser in order to obtain additional information, and/or disambiguatepotentially ambiguous utterances. When such interactions are necessary,task flow processing module 736 can invoke dialogue flow processingmodule 734 to engage in a dialogue with the user. In some examples,dialogue flow processing module 734 can determine how (and/or when) toask the user for the additional information and receives and processesthe user responses. The questions can be provided to and answers can bereceived from the users through I/O processing module 728. In someexamples, dialogue flow processing module 734 can present dialogueoutput to the user via audio and/or visual output, and receives inputfrom the user via spoken or physical (e.g., clicking) responses.Continuing with the example above, when task flow processing module 736invokes dialogue flow processing module 734 to determine the “partysize” and “date” information for the structured query associated withthe domain “restaurant reservation,” dialogue flow processing module 734can generate questions such as “For how many people?” and “On whichday?” to pass to the user. Once answers are received from the user,dialogue flow processing module 734 can then populate the structuredquery with the missing information, or pass the information to task flowprocessing module 736 to complete the missing information from thestructured query.

Once task flow processing module 736 has completed the structured queryfor an actionable intent, task flow processing module 736 can proceed toperform the ultimate task associated with the actionable intent.Accordingly, task flow processing module 736 can execute the steps andinstructions in the task flow model according to the specific parameterscontained in the structured query. For example, the task flow model forthe actionable intent of “restaurant reservation” can include steps andinstructions for contacting a restaurant and actually requesting areservation for a particular party size at a particular time. Forexample, using a structured query such as: {restaurant reservation,restaurant=ABC Café, date=Mar. 12, 2012, time=7 pm, party size=5}, taskflow processing module 736 can perform the steps of: (1) logging onto aserver of the ABC Café or a restaurant reservation system such asOPENTABLE®, (2) entering the date, time, and party size information in aform on the website, (3) submitting the form, and (4) making a calendarentry for the reservation in the user's calendar.

In some examples, task flow processing module 736 can employ theassistance of service processing module 738 (“service processingmodule”) to complete a task requested in the user input or to provide aninformational answer requested in the user input. For example, serviceprocessing module 738 can act on behalf of task flow processing module736 to make a phone call, set a calendar entry, invoke a map search,invoke or interact with other user applications installed on the userdevice, and invoke or interact with third-party services (e.g., arestaurant reservation portal, a social networking website, a bankingportal, etc.). In some examples, the protocols and applicationprogramming interfaces (API) required by each service can be specifiedby a respective service model among service models 756. Serviceprocessing module 738 can access the appropriate service model for aservice and generate requests for the service in accordance with theprotocols and APIs required by the service according to the servicemodel.

For example, if a restaurant has enabled an online reservation service,the restaurant can submit a service model specifying the necessaryparameters for making a reservation and the APIs for communicating thevalues of the necessary parameter to the online reservation service.When requested by task flow processing module 736, service processingmodule 738 can establish a network connection with the onlinereservation service using the web address stored in the service model,and send the necessary parameters of the reservation (e.g., time, date,party size) to the online reservation interface in a format according tothe API of the online reservation service.

In some examples, natural language processing module 732, dialogue flowprocessing module 734, and task flow processing module 736 can be usedcollectively and iteratively to infer and define the user's intent,obtain information to further clarify and refine the user intent, andfinally generate a response (i.e., an output to the user, or thecompletion of a task) to fulfill the user's intent. The generatedresponse can be a dialogue response to the speech input that at leastpartially fulfills the user's intent. Further, in some examples, thegenerated response can be output as a speech output. In these examples,the generated response can be sent to speech synthesis module 740 (e.g.,speech synthesizer) where it can be processed to synthesize the dialogueresponse in speech form. In yet other examples, the generated responsecan be data content relevant to satisfying a user request in the speechinput.

Speech synthesis module 740 can be configured to synthesize speechoutputs for presentation to the user. Speech synthesis module 740synthesizes speech outputs based on text provided by the digitalassistant. For example, the generated dialogue response can be in theform of a text string. Speech synthesis module 740 can convert the textstring to an audible speech output. Speech synthesis module 740 can useany appropriate speech synthesis technique in order to generate speechoutputs from text, including, but not limited, to concatenativesynthesis, unit selection synthesis, diphone synthesis, domain-specificsynthesis, formant synthesis, articulatory synthesis, hidden Markovmodel (HMM) based synthesis, and sinewave synthesis. In some examples,speech synthesis module 740 can be configured to synthesize individualwords based on phonemic strings corresponding to the words. For example,a phonemic string can be associated with a word in the generateddialogue response. The phonemic string can be stored in metadataassociated with the word. Speech synthesis model 740 can be configuredto directly process the phonemic string in the metadata to synthesizethe word in speech form.

In some examples, instead of (or in addition to) using speech synthesismodule 740, speech synthesis can be performed on a remote device (e.g.,the server system 108), and the synthesized speech can be sent to theuser device for output to the user. For example, this can occur in someimplementations where outputs for a digital assistant are generated at aserver system. And because server systems generally have more processingpower or resources than a user device, it can be possible to obtainhigher quality speech outputs than would be practical with client-sidesynthesis.

Additional details on digital assistants can be found in the U.S.Utility application Ser. No. 12/987,982, entitled “Intelligent AutomatedAssistant,” filed Jan. 10, 2011, and U.S. Utility application Ser. No.13/251,088, entitled “Generating and Processing Task Items ThatRepresent Tasks to Perform,” filed Sep. 30, 2011, the entire disclosuresof which are incorporated herein by reference.

FIGS. 8A-8Q illustrate exemplary user interfaces for discovering mediabased on a nonspecific, unstructured natural language request, inaccordance with some embodiments. The user interfaces in these figuresare used to illustrate the processes described below, including theexemplary processes in FIGS. 9A-9C.

Referring to FIG. 8A, an electronic device 200 includes a display 212and a microphone 213 in accordance with some embodiments. A digitalassistant, as described above is, accessed by a user, who uttersunstructured natural language user input that is acquired via themicrophone 213. The timing of the user request is under the control ofthe user. The user can request the delivery of media during theconcurrent playback of other media by the electronic device 200, orwhile the electronic device 200 is not playing back media. The userinput requests the delivery of particular media, in this case a song.The user input is converted from speech to text, and in accordance withsome embodiments, the textual user input 1000 is displayed on thedisplay 212. By displaying the textual user input 1000, in accordancewith some embodiments, the user can verify that the digital assistanthas received correctly the request as made. In other embodiments, suchas but not limited to embodiments in which the digital assistant isoperable in a hands-free mode, the textual user input 1000 is notdisplayed. As illustrated in FIG. 8A, the user has requested the digitalassistant to play a specific track from an album entitled “Liszt: ThePiano Concertos.” At least part of the album is stored in electronicform on the electronic device 200, in some embodiments. In otherembodiments, at least part of the album is stored remotely (in the“cloud”) on an external device accessible to the electronic device 200.The remotely stored content is associated with the electronic device 200and/or a unique identifier associated with the user, in accordance withsome embodiments. In other embodiments, at least part of the album ispart of a streaming service, such as Apple Music or iTunes Radio℠(services of Apple, Inc. of Cupertino, Calif.), that is accessible tothe electronic device 200.

Upon receiving unstructured natural language user input requestingmedia, the digital assistant causes a search for that media to beperformed, as described in greater detail with regard to FIGS. 9A-9C.That search is performed utilizing the unstructured natural languageuser input, and the context of that input. In this example, the searchfinds the specific media requested by the user, track 2 of “Liszt: ThePiano Concertos,” determining based on the user input and its contextthat the specific album satisfies the user request. In some embodiments,it is transparent to the user whether the media requested by the user islocally present on the electronic device 200, stored remotely on aserver, or streamed to the user by a streaming service such as AppleMusic or iTunes Radio℠ (services of Apple, Inc. of Cupertino, Calif.).As illustrated in FIG. 8B, the digital assistant obtains the requestedmedia. The electronic device 200 presents an identifier 1002 associatedwith the media on the display 212, in accordance with some embodiments,to allow the user to confirm which media is being played back. Theelectronic device 200 includes a media playback interface 1004 whichincludes standard media controls, such as affordances for pausing,reversing, or advancing media, affordances for controlling volume, andan affordance that displays and/or controls progress in media playback,in accordance with some embodiments. The electronic device 200 playsback the selected media; here, track 2 (“Piano Concerto #2 in A) fromthe album “Liszt: The Piano Concertos.”

As illustrated in FIG. 8C, a user requests media in a less specificmanner than described with regard to FIG. 8A. Nonspecific unstructurednatural language user input does not identify a particular media itemwith particularity. For example, a user wishes to hear a song associatedwith a popular movie, but does not know or recall the name of the song.User input 1010 is received, which identifies the movie but not thesong: “play that song from Top Gun.” The user request made in FIG. 8Cmay be made at any time: during, after, before, or instead of playbackof the media obtained as shown in FIG. 8B. The user input 1010 isdisplayed on the display 212, in accordance with some embodiments.

Upon receiving nonspecific unstructured natural language user inputrequesting media, the digital assistant causes a search for that mediato be performed, as described in greater detail with regard to FIGS.9A-9C. That search is performed utilizing the unstructured naturallanguage user input, and the context of that input. The context of theuser input may include one or more of device context, user context, andsocial context.

Device context includes information associated with the electronicdevice 200 itself. In some embodiments, the device context includes thelocation of the electronic device 200. A GPS system or other system maybe used to localize the electronic device 200, and may be able todetermine whether the user is moving, where the user is located (e.g.,home, school, work, park, gym), and other information. In accordancewith some embodiments, the electronic device 200 is configured toreceive signals from a wireless location transmitter other than GPS,such as a Bluetooth® wireless location transmitter, or an iBeacon ofApple, Inc., Cupertino, Calif. As one example, the digital assistantdetermines that the electronic device 200, and thus the user, is movingat a rate of speed consistent with automobile travel. The digitalassistant utilizes this information in conjunction with user context(described below) that is related to the media most often played back bythe user in the car in order to obtain requested media, in accordancewith some embodiments. As another example, the digital assistantdetermines that the electronic device 200 is at a venue in which livemusic is performed, such as an arena or a bar. In response, the digitalassistant may cause a search for a schedule of musical performances atthe location where the electronic device 200 is located, and utilizethat information to satisfy the user request for media, in accordancewith some embodiments. As another example, where the electronic device200 is located in the user's home, and the user has not moved adetectable amount over a predetermined amount of time, the digitalassistant determines that the user is at home watching television.

In accordance with some embodiments, the device context includes audioinput from the microphone other than user speech, such as sound in thevicinity of the electronic device 200. The electronic device, accordingto some embodiments, generates an acoustic fingerprint from that sound.An acoustic fingerprint is a condensed digital summary, generated fromthat sound, that can be used to identify that sound by comparing thatacoustic fingerprint to a database. The electronic device, in otherembodiments, also or instead converts that sound to text, where thatsound includes recognizable speech. As an example of the use of suchcontext, where the digital assistant has determined that the user is athome watching television (as described in the previous paragraph) otherthan via the electronic device, the digital assistant determines basedon the sound in the vicinity of the electronic device 200 that the useris watching a particular television program, such as through the AppleTV® digital media extender of Apple, Inc., Cupertino, Calif. The digitalassistant also utilizes a database of television programming scheduleinformation to make such a determination, in accordance with someembodiments. Upon receiving a request from a user for media (e.g.,“record episodes of this show”; “get this song from the show”), thedigital assistant utilizes location and ambient sound information todetermine which media satisfies a user request. In accordance withanother embodiment, in another example, the user is walking through amall or public space, or sitting in a restaurant, and hears a song overthe local sound system. In response to a user request to “add this songto my library,” the digital assistant may listen to ambient sound viathe microphone 213 in order to determine what the user meant by “thissong.” Upon identifying the song, using, for example, acousticfingerprinting or speech-to-text search techniques as described above,the digital assistant may add that song to a user library.

In accordance with some embodiments, the device context includes thecontent of media concurrently played by the electronic device 200 at thesame time as the user request for media. Such media can be in anyformat, such as audio and/or video. The video and music player module252 accesses information associated with the media concurrently playedby the electronic device 200, in some embodiments, such that the digitalassistant 200 has direct access to that information. Such information isuseful in contexts where the user requests media that is related to themedia concurrently played by the electronic device (e.g., “play morelike this,” “I want to hear the live version of this song”). Inaccordance with some embodiments, the device context includes a timecodeassociated with the content of media concurrently played by theelectronic device 200 at the same time as the user request for media.The digital assistant utilizes this timecode, in accordance with someembodiments, to determine the location in the media that is concurrentwith the user request for media. For example, if a user is watching avideo on the electronic device, and requests “add this artist to mystream,” the digital assistant accesses the media stream played by thevideo and music player module 252 to determine which media is beingplayed concurrently, then uses the timecode of that media stream todetermine if a song is associated with that timecode in the mediastream; if so, the digital assistant determines that song is associatedwith the user input of “this artist,” and determines the artist whoperformed that song. Similarly, in accordance with some embodiments, theelectronic device 200 receives streaming audio from a source such asApple Music or iTunes Radio℠ (services of Apple, Inc. of Cupertino,Calif.). If a user is listening to streaming audio, and does notrecognize a particular song being played, the user may requestinformation about that song, such as by typing or speaking “what song isthis?” In response to the request, the digital assistant determineswhich song is playing, such as by inspecting metadata associated withthe streaming audio, by generating an acoustic fingerprint from thestreaming audio and comparing that acoustic fingerprint to a database(as described above), or by querying the server from which the streamingaudio is received. The digital assistant then presents the song titleand artist to the user, using text and/or audio.

In accordance with some embodiments, the device context includes dataassociated with media stored on the electronic device 200. For example,the digital assistant infers that media stored on the electronic device200 is media that is preferred by a user, and utilizes that informationin determining the meaning of nonspecific user requests for media. Thedata associated with media stored on the electronic device includes, forexample, but is not limited to the presence of that media, bibliographicinformation of that media (e.g., title, album, release date),information relating to the playback history of that media (e.g., numberof times the media has been played back; date the media was last playedback; date the media was added to the electronic device), and metadatarelating to that media.

In accordance with some embodiments, the device context includes theapplication context. Application context is related to the applicationthe user is utilizing for media playback. For example, the digitalassistant determines whether concurrent media playback is beingperformed by the video and music player module 252, by a nativeapplication running on the electronic device 200, by a third-partyapplication associated with the electronic device 200 (e.g., HuluPlus®of Hulu, LLC, Santa Monica, Calif.), or by another application. Theapplication context also includes metadata, if any, associated with theapplication.

User context includes information associated with the user of theelectronic device 200. User context includes the content of naturallanguage user input requesting media. In accordance with someembodiments, user context includes demographic information about theuser, such as the user's age, gender, or the like. The digital assistantuses this information to compare the request for media to similarrequests made by other users with similar demographic profiles, in someembodiments. For example, a digital assistant receives nonspecificunstructured natural language user input requesting media from a userwho attends college in Boston. The digital assistant causes a search tobe made relating to media sought by other college students in Boston,and uses the popularity of media among similarly-situated users in orderto obtain media for the user.

In accordance with some embodiments, the user context includes mediaassociated with the user, regardless of the storage location of themedia. Such media may be stored in the cloud, or may be associated witha streaming music service accessible to the user, such as Apple Music oriTunes Radio℠ (services of Apple, Inc. of Cupertino, Calif.). In someembodiments, the digital assistant infers that media associated with theuser is media that is preferred by a user, and utilizes that informationin determining the meaning of nonspecific user requests for media. Insome embodiments, user context further includes data associated with themedia associated with the user, such as but not limited to the presenceof that media, bibliographic information of that media (e.g., title,album, release date), information relating to the playback history ofthat media (e.g., number of times the media has been played back; datethe media was last played back; date the media was added to theelectronic device), and metadata relating to that media.

In accordance with some embodiments, the user context includesinformation relating to the musical preferences of the user. Forexample, the user context includes the history of media played back bythe user, and/or the number of times the user has played back certainitems, regardless of the storage location of those items. Media that hasbeen played more often by the user is inferred to be preferred by theuser, such that media that has been played frequently by the user thatmatches nonspecific natural language user input requesting media isconsidered a better match when determining a media item that satisfies auser request. As another example, the user context includes the historyof media acquisition by the user, regardless of the storage location ofthat media. As another example, the user context includes the history ofthe addition of music to a streaming music service accessible to theuser, such as Apple Music or iTunes Radio℠ (services of Apple, Inc. ofCupertino, Calif.).

In accordance with some embodiments, the user context includes dataassociated with user content accessible by the electronic device 200.For example, user context includes data associated with digitalphotographs taken by the user, whether stored on the electronic device200, or stored remotely to and accessible by the electronic device 200.Digital photographs typically are stored along with metadata such as thedate taken and the location taken. Upon receiving nonspecific naturallanguage user input requesting media such as “play hits from my trip toItaly,” the digital assistant may cause a search to be performed forinformation relating to a trip to Italy. Upon finding photographmetadata that includes a location within Italy, the digital assistantdetermines the corresponding date information in that photographmetadata. The digital assistant then causes a search to be made ofdatabases of historical music chart information (e.g., the database ofBillboard of New York, N.Y.) based on the date information obtained fromthe photograph. As is clear from this example, the user content need notbe related to the type of media sought by the user.

Social context includes information associated with other users than theuser of the electronic device 200. As one example, social contextincludes how many times a particular media item has been streamed ordownloaded from a music service such as iTunes® music service of Apple,Inc. of Cupertino, Calif. Such a count of streams or downloads isperformed across an artist's musical output, in one example. Such acount is performed within an album, in another example. By way of afurther example, the digital assistant may receive nonspecific naturallanguage user input requesting media such as “play that song fromFrozen.” The digital assistant may cause a search to be performed on theiTunes® music service of Apple, Inc. of Cupertino, Calif., in order tofind a soundtrack album for the movie Frozen, and then determine whichtrack on that album has been downloaded the greatest number of times.The particular media item on the album with the greatest number ofdownloads is obtained by the digital assistant. As another example,social context includes how many times a particular media item has beenstreamed from a streaming music service accessible to the user, such asApple Music or iTunes Radio℠ (services of Apple, Inc. of Cupertino,Calif.).

In accordance with some embodiments, social context includes the numberof references to a media item in a social media database. As oneexample, the digital assistant may receive nonspecific natural languageuser input requesting media such as “I want to hear that big hit fromFamous Band.” Famous Band may have released a popular album with severalhits. In order to disambiguate the user's request, the digital assistantmay cause a search to be performed of a social database, e.g., thedatabase of Twitter, Inc. of San Francisco, Calif., in order todetermine how many mentions of a particular media item have been madeacross a recent period of time, such as the previous 7 days or 14 days.The particular media item from Famous Band with the most references inthat period of time is obtained by the digital assistant.

Returning specifically to FIG. 8C, user input 1010 has been received,which identifies a movie but not the requested song from the movie:“play that song from Top Gun.” The digital assistant identifies at leastone context of the user input 1010, as described above. According tosome embodiments, the context is at least one of device context, usercontext and social context. The digital assistant causes a search forthe media, based on the context and on the user input. For example, thedigital assistant may search the electronic device 200 and/or mediaassociated with the user for the soundtrack for the movie “Top Gun.”Upon discovering the soundtrack, the digital assistant may determinewhich song on the soundtrack has been played the most, and determinethat song satisfies the media request, after which the digital assistantobtains the song for the user. As another example, the digital assistantmay search a music service for the soundtrack for the movie “Top Gun.”Upon discovering the soundtrack, the digital assistant may determinewhich song on the soundtrack has been streamed or downloaded the mosttimes, and determine that song satisfies the media request, after whichthe digital assistant obtains the song for the user.

Both of these example processes, in addition to other processes, may beperformed simultaneously in order to obtain the requested media. Byperforming the processes in parallel, rather than in series, the time tolocate the media item is reduced, particularly where only one of severalprocesses delivers a result that satisfies the user request. Further,where the parallel processes each deliver a single media item,confidence that it is the media item requested by the user is enhanced.Still further, where the parallel processes deliver two or more separatemedia items, the digital assistant applies further heuristics to thoseitems to determine which is the most likely to meet the user request.The digital assistant may score each media item on one or more criteria,and determine that the media item with the highest score satisfies theuser request, after which the digital assistant obtains the song for theuser. The scoring methodology is biased toward certain results, such asresults associated with media stored on the electronic device 200,according to some embodiments. In some embodiments, a user selects whichcriteria are more or less important with regard to scoring in order toobtain the requested media.

As illustrated in FIG. 8D, the digital assistant obtains the requestedmedia. The electronic device 200 presents an identifier 1012 associatedwith the media on the display 212, in accordance with some embodiments,to allow the user to confirm which media is being played back: here, thesong “Danger Zone” from Kenny Loggins, on the Top Gun Original MotionPicture Soundtrack Album. The electronic device 200 optionally includesa media playback interface 1004 as described above. The electronicdevice 200 plays back the selected media.

The user may have had a different song in mind than the one presented inFIG. 8D, or the user may simply change his or her mind about which mediahe or she would like to play back. As illustrated in FIG. 8E, thedigital assistant receives user input 1020 requesting alternate media.In the example of FIGS. 8C-8D, the alternate media is a different songfrom the same movie (i.e., the same soundtrack album). The user input1020 need not be phrased as a request; as shown in FIG. 8E, the userinput 1020 states “No, I meant the other one.” The digital assistantperforms speech-to-text conversion on the user input 1020, anddetermines from the context of the most recent request and most recentdigital assistant action that the user wishes to receive a differentmedia item than the one most recently obtained. In response to receivingthe second user input 1020, the digital assistant causes a search forthe requested media based on the context, the user input, and the seconduser input. For example, the digital assistant may cause another searchbased on the same criteria as the first search, but where media itemsthat match the first result (here, the song “Danger Zone”) are discardedas potential matches. As another example, the results of the previoussearch are still loaded in memory accessible to the digital assistant,and the digital assistant selects the next-highest match out of a listof possible matching media items. This approach may require more storagecapacity but delivers faster results to the user. The digital assistantdetermines at least one additional media item that satisfies therequest. As another example, the electronic device 200 plays streamingmedia, such as streaming audio from Apple Music or iTunes Radio℠(services of Apple, Inc. of Cupertino, Calif.). If the user wants toskip ahead to the next song, the user may request “skip this song,”“next song,” or the like. The digital assistant need not perform asearch based on that request for media. Instead, according to someembodiments, the digital assistant transmits a signal to the server fromwhich the streaming audio is received requesting that the stream skipahead to the next song. In response, the digital assistant receivesanother song, which is then played by the electronic device 200.

As illustrated in FIG. 8F, the digital assistant obtains the media thatsatisfies the request. The electronic device 200 presents an identifier1022 associated with the media on the display 212, in accordance withsome embodiments, to allow the user to confirm which media is beingplayed back: here, the song “Take My Breath Away (Love Theme from TopGun)” from Berlin, on the Top Gun Original Motion Picture SoundtrackAlbum. The electronic device 200 optionally includes a media playbackinterface 1004 as described above. The electronic device 200 plays backthe selected media.

As illustrated in FIG. 8G, the digital assistant receives user input1030 requesting alternate media. In the example of FIGS. 8E-8F, thealternate media is a different version of the song. In this example, thedifferent version is a live version rather than a studio version. Inother examples, the different version is a different studio version bythe same artist, a different live version by the same artist, or thesame song recorded by a different artist. The digital assistant causes asearch for alternate media and determines at least one alternate mediaitem that satisfies the request, in the same manner as described abovewith regard to FIGS. 8E-8F.

As illustrated in FIG. 8H, the digital assistant obtains the media thatsatisfies the request. The electronic device 200 presents an identifier1032 associated with the media on the display 212, in accordance withsome embodiments, to allow the user to confirm which media is beingplayed back: here, the song “Take My Breath Away Live” from Berlin, onthe album entitled “Live: Sacred and Profane.” The electronic device 200optionally includes a media playback interface 1004 as described above.The electronic device 200 plays back the selected media.

In accordance with some embodiments, the digital assistant receives userinput requesting media associated with a specific date in the past. Uponreceiving nonspecific natural language user input requesting media suchas “play popular music from my birthday,” the digital assistant causes asearch to be performed for user context information relating to theuser's birthday. According to some embodiments, the user's birthday isstored on the electronic device 200, or is stored in association with auser account that in turn is associated with the electronic device 200and/or a service or program that transmits media to the electronicdevice, such as the iTunes® application program, Apple Music or iTunesRadio℠ (services of Apple, Inc. of Cupertino, Calif.). Upon determiningthe date of the user's birthday, the digital assistant then causes asearch to be made of one or more databases of historical music chartinformation (e.g., the database of Billboard of New York, N.Y.) based onthe date of the user's birthday. The digital assistant receiveshistorical music chart information from one or more databases, and inresponse obtains for the user (through the use of streaming audio or bydownloading) and plays one or more of the songs identified by thathistorical music chart information.

As another example, the user requests “play the top ten hits from 1978.”The digital assistant causes a search to be made of one or moredatabases of historical music chart information (e.g., the database ofBillboard of New York, N.Y.) based on the specified date of 1978. Thedigital assistant receives historical music chart information from theone or more databases, and in response obtains for the user (through theuse of streaming audio or by downloading) and plays the top ten songs of1978, as identified by that historical music chart information. Thedigital assistant causes the songs to be played in countdown order, fromthe #10 hit “Three Times a Lady” by the Commodores, to #1 hit “ShadowDancing” by Andy Gibb. Alternately, the digital assistant causes thesongs to be played from #1 to #10, or plays the top ten songs in randomorder.

In accordance with some embodiments, the digital assistant receivesnonspecific user input requesting media associated with a particularartist. For example, the user requests “play the latest album fromFamous Band.” The digital assistant causes a search to be made of one ormore databases of music information (such as the iTunes® music service,or Apple Music, of Apple, Inc. of Cupertino, Calif.) based on thespecified artist Famous Band. The digital assistant receives discographyinformation from the one or more databases, including the name of themost recent album of Famous Band, and in response obtains for the user(through the use of streaming audio or by downloading) and plays thelatest album from Famous Band. According to some embodiments, whenutilizing a streaming media service such as Apple Music or iTunes Radio℠(services of Apple, Inc. of Cupertino, Calif.), the digital assistantinitially queries the streaming media service for the latest album bythe specified artist Famous Band, and in response receives an audiostream of the latest album by Famous Band.

According to some embodiments, during media playback, the digitalassistant receives input from a user associated with user satisfactionwith the media. As one example, the electronic device 200 receivesspeech or text input corresponding to a user liking the media (i.e., a“like”). A “like” input from the user is user context information.Optionally, the “like” input may be utilized as part of the socialcontext with regard to other users. For example, if a user “likes” aparticular media item, it may be inferred that others of similardemographic characteristics, and/or in a similar location, will be moreinterested in that particular media item. According to some embodiments,the user's “like” of a particular media item is stored locally on theelectronic device 200, is stored on the cloud in association with theuser, or is part of a streaming music service accessible to the user,such as Apple Music or iTunes Radio℠ (services of Apple, Inc. ofCupertino, Calif.).

As another example, the electronic device 200 receives speech or textinput corresponding to a user disliking the media (i.e., a “dislike”). A“dislike” input from the user is user context information. Optionally,the “dislike” input may be utilized as part of the social context withregard to other users. For example, if a user “dislikes” a particularmedia item, it may be inferred that others of similar demographiccharacteristics, and/or in a similar location, will be less interestedin that particular media item. According to some embodiments, the user's“dislike” of a particular media item is stored locally on the electronicdevice 200, is stored on the cloud in association with the user, or ispart of a streaming music service accessible to the user, such as AppleMusic or iTunes Radio℠ (services of Apple, Inc. of Cupertino, Calif.).In some embodiments, upon receiving a “dislike” input, the digitalassistant Upon receiving a “dislike” input, the digital assistantinterrupts concurrent playback of media already playing on theelectronic device 200, skips ahead to the next media in a playback queueor media stream, ceases playing media, and/or takes other action,according to some embodiments. In some embodiments, a user request toskip a particular media item counts as a partial or complete “dislike”of that media item. In other embodiments, a user request to skip a mediaitem is not counted as a “dislike” of that media item.

In accordance with some embodiments, the digital assistant receives userinput requesting new music. For example, the user requests “play newmusic.” The digital assistant identifies at least one context of theuser input, as described above. According to some embodiments, thecontext is at least one of device context, user context and socialcontext. In response, according to some embodiments, the digitalassistant transmits a request for new music to a streaming music serviceaccessible to the user, such as Apple Music or iTunes Radio℠ (servicesof Apple, Inc. of Cupertino, Calif.). In response, the digital assistantreceives an audio stream from the streaming music service, including oneor more new songs (e.g., songs released in the past 14 days). Accordingto some embodiments, selection of the one or more new songs in the audiois based at least in part on previous “like” and “dislike” inputsreceived from the user relative to other media, and/or other usercontext, device context, and/or social context.

As another example, the user requests “play new country songs.” Inresponse, according to some embodiments, the digital assistant transmitsa request for new music in the genre of country to a streaming musicservice accessible to the user, such as Apple Music or iTunes Radio℠(services of Apple, Inc. of Cupertino, Calif.). In response, the digitalassistant receives an audio stream from the streaming music service,including one or more new country songs. According to some embodiments,selection of the one or more new country songs in the audio is based atleast in part on previous “like” and “dislike” inputs received from theuser relative to other media, and/or other user context, device context,and/or social context.

In accordance with some embodiments, the digital assistant receives auser request to play additional similar media. For example, the userrequests “play more like this.” The digital assistant identifies atleast one context of the user input, as described above. According tosome embodiments, the context is at least one of device context, usercontext and social context. In response to the user request, the digitalassistant determines which song is playing, such as by inspectingmetadata associated with the currently-playing audio, by generating anacoustic fingerprint from the streaming audio and comparing thatacoustic fingerprint to a database (as described above), by querying aserver from which streaming audio is received, and/or any other suitableaction or actions. The digital assistant causes a search for the media,based on the context and on the user input. For example, the digitalassistant may search the electronic device 200 and/or media associatedwith the user for similar media, such as based on genre, artist, anduser context of media that the user has previously “liked” or“disliked.” The digital assistant then obtains (from the electronicdevice 200, from a streaming music service, or other source) media forthe user. As another example, the digital assistant may search a musicservice for similar music. The digital assistant causes a search to bemade of one or more databases of music information (such as the iTunes®music service, or Apple Music, of Apple, Inc. of Cupertino, Calif.)based on user context of media that the user has previously “liked” or“disliked,” the social context of media that other similar users have“liked” or “disliked,” and/or other context. The digital assistantreceives information associated with songs from the one or moredatabases and in response obtains for the user (through the use ofstreaming audio or by downloading) and plays similar music. According tosome embodiments, when utilizing a streaming media service such as AppleMusic or iTunes Radio℠ (services of Apple, Inc. of Cupertino, Calif.),the digital assistant initially queries the streaming media service forsimilar media, and in response receives an audio stream of similar mediaresponsive to the user request.

When the digital assistant obtains media, the digital assistantinterrupts concurrent playback of media already playing on theelectronic device 200, places the media in an ordered queue for laterplayback, adds the media to a media library, and/or takes other action,according to some embodiments. Referring back to FIGS. 8E-8F, thedigital assistant determines based on the user input 1020 that thereturned media item did not satisfy the user request, in accordance withsome embodiments. As a result, when the alternate media 1022 isobtained, it interrupts the concurrent playback of the song “DangerZone,” terminating the playback of “Danger Zone” and replacing it withthe playback of alternate media 1022, in accordance with someembodiments. In general, according to some embodiments, when the digitalassistant determines that the user input is consistent with inputrequesting an interruption of concurrently-played media, the digitalassistant causes the electronic device 200 to cease playing that mediaand replace it with the playback of the most-recently requested media.The media may be different types of media. For example, while watching amovie on the electronic device 200, a user may request playback of asong; the digital assistant will cause the electronic device 200 tocease playing the movie and replace it with the playback of themost-recently requested media—in this example, the song.

In accordance with some embodiments, when the digital assistant obtainsmedia, the digital assistant places the media in an ordered queue forlater playback. As illustrated in FIG. 8J, the digital assistantreceives user input 1040 requesting to “play more from this band.” Thedigital assistant determines based on the user input 1040 that the useris satisfied with the media item previously obtained, because the userwishes to obtain more media from the same artist. Other criteria may beused to determine whether user input 1040 is consistent with usersatisfaction with the media being played concurrently with the userinput 1040. Based on that user input 1040, the digital assistant causesa search to be made based on the user input and the context of the userinput, determines one or more additional media items satisfying the userrequest, and obtains those one or more media items. As illustrated inFIG. 8K, the media playing concurrent with the user input 1040 continuesto play. The digital assistant causes the one or more additional mediaitems to be placed in an ordered queue for playback. When the mediaplaying concurrent with the user input 1040 has completed playback, thefirst item in the ordered queue is then played. According to someembodiments, the items in the queue may be from the local library on theelectronic device 200, may be located external to the electronic devicein the cloud, or may be part of a streaming music service accessible tothe user, such as Apple Music or iTunes Radio℠ (services of Apple, Inc.of Cupertino, Calif.). In general, according to some embodiments, whenthe digital assistant determines that the user input is consistent withinput reflecting user satisfaction with concurrently-playing media, thedigital assistant causes the electronic device 200 to continue playingthat media and place one or more additional media items in an orderedqueue for playback. The media may be different types of media, as setforth above with regard to another embodiment.

In accordance with some embodiments, when the digital assistant obtainsmedia, the digital assistant adds the media to a media libraryassociated with the user. In some examples, the media library is locallystored on the electronic device 200, is stored on the cloud inassociation with the user, or is part of a streaming music serviceaccessible to the user, such as Apple Music or iTunes Radio℠ (servicesof Apple, Inc. of Cupertino, Calif.). For example, as illustrated inFIG. 8L, the digital assistant receives user input 1050 requesting “whatis that song from Frozen?” The digital assistant causes a search for themedia based on the user input and at least one context of the userinput, determines at least one media item that satisfies the request,and obtains the at least one media item. In some embodiments, thedigital assistant automatically adds the obtained at least one mediaitem to a media library associated with the user. In other embodiments,as illustrated in FIG. 8M, upon obtaining the at least one media item,but before adding the at least one media item to a library associatedwith the user, the digital assistant presents the user with an option toadd the at least one media item to a library associated with the user.According to some embodiments, the user is presented with an identifier1052 of the at least one media item obtained, along with a request 1054on the display 212, such as “Add to library?” The electronic devicedisplays a first affordance 1056 associated with adding the at least onemedia item to a library associated with the user, and a secondaffordance 1058 associated with not adding the at least one media itemto a library associated with the user, in accordance with someembodiments. In response to user selection of the first affordance 1056,the digital assistant adds the at least one media item to a libraryassociated with the user.

In accordance with some embodiments, as illustrated in FIGS. 8N-8P, thedigital assistant may receive user input that annotates a media item.Referring to FIG. 8N, the electronic device 200 is playing back mediaitem 1060, which in this example is track 14 of the album “1970sGreatest Hits.” The audio interface 1004 may be displayed on the display212 concurrently with playback of media item 1060. The user may wish toannotate the media item 1060. In some embodiments, the digital assistantreceives user input 1062 of unstructured natural language speechincluding one or more words, such as “I like these lyrics” or “What doesthis mean?”. The user input 1062 is associated with the timecode withinthe media item 1060 at which time the user input 1062 was received,according to some embodiments. The user input 1062 is converted fromspeech to text, stored as voice data, or handled in any other suitablemanner. The user input 1062, in some embodiments, is a note from theuser to himself or herself, or is other information upon which thedigital assistant does not act.

In accordance with some embodiments, as illustrated in FIG. 8Q, thedigital assistant causes a search to be performed based on the userinput 1062 based on the context of the user input 1062, according tosome embodiments. In other embodiments, the digital assistant does notcause a search to be performed until receiving an express request fromthe user. In response to the search, the digital assistant provides thesearch result 1064 to the user on the display 212. In this example, theuser input 1062 related to the meaning of the lyrics of the media item1060 at a particular timecode, and the digital assistant determined themeaning of the lyrics such as by reference to a lyrics database.

FIGS. 9A-9C illustrate a process 900 for operating a digital assistantaccording to various examples. More specifically, process 900 can beimplemented to perform media discovery based on nonspecific naturallanguage user input using a digital assistant. The process 900 can beperformed using one or more electronic devices implementing a digitalassistant. In some examples, the process 900 can be performed using aclient-server system (e.g., system 100) implementing a digitalassistant. The individual blocks of the process 900 may be distributedin any appropriate manner among one or more computers, systems, orelectronic devices. For instances, in some examples, process 900 can beperformed entirely on an electronic device (e.g., devices 104, 200, 400,or 600). References in this document to any one particular electronicdevice (104, 200, 400, or 600) shall be understood to encompass all ofthe electronic devices (104, 200, 400, or 600) unless one or more ofthose electronic devices (104, 200, 400 or 600) is excluded by the plainmeaning of the text. For example, the electronic device (104, 200, 400or 600) utilized in several examples is a smartphone. However, theprocess 900 is not limited to use with a smartphone; the process 900 maybe implemented on any other suitable electronic device, such as atablet, a desktop computer, a laptop, or a smart watch. Electronicdevices with greater computing power and greater battery life mayperform more of the blocks of the process 900. The distribution ofblocks of the process 900 need not be fixed, and may vary depending uponnetwork connection bandwidth, network connection quality, server load,availability of computer power and battery power at the electronicdevice (e.g., 104, 200, 400, 600), and/or other factors. Further, whilethe following discussion describes process 900 as being performed by adigital assistant system (e.g., system 100 and/or digital assistantsystem 700), it should be recognized that the process or any particularpart of the process is not limited to performance by any particulardevice, combination of devices, or implementation. The description ofthe process is further illustrated and exemplified by FIGS. 8A-8Q, andthe description above related to those figures.

FIGS. 9A-9C are a flow diagram 900 illustrating a method for discoveringmedia based on a nonspecific, unstructured natural language requestusing a digital assistant and an electronic device (104, 200, 400, or600) in accordance with some embodiments. Some operations in process 900may be combined, the order of some operations may be changed, and someoperations may be omitted. In particular, optional operations indicatedwith dashed-line shapes in FIGS. 9A-9C may be performed in any suitableorder, if at all, and need not be performed in the order set forth inFIGS. 9A-9C.

As described below, method 900 provides an intuitive way for discoveringmedia based on a nonspecific, unstructured natural language requestusing a digital assistant. The method reduces the cognitive burden on auser for discovering media based on a nonspecific, unstructured naturallanguage request using a digital assistant, thereby creating a moreefficient human-machine interface. For battery-operated computingdevices, enabling a user to discovering media based on a nonspecific,unstructured natural language request using a digital assistant moreaccurately and more efficiently conserves power and increases the timebetween battery charges.

At the beginning of process 900, the digital assistant receives (902)user input associated with a request for media, where the user inputincludes unstructured natural language speech including one or morewords. Where the electronic device (e.g., 104, 200, 400, 600) includesor is associated with a microphone 213, that user input may be receivedthrough the microphone 213. The user input may also be referred to as anaudio input or audio stream. In some embodiments, the stream of audiocan be received as raw sound waves, as an audio file, or in the form ofa representative audio signal (analog or digital). In other embodiments,the audio stream can be received at a remote system, such as a servercomponent of a digital assistant. The audio stream can include userspeech, such as a spoken user request. The user input may include aspoken user request by an authorized user. In one example, the userinput may be received from a user who is closely associated with theelectronic device (104, 200, 400, 600) (e.g., the owner or predominantuser of the user device). In an alternate embodiment, the user input isreceived in textual form instead of as speech. In some embodiments, theaudio stream is converted from speech to text by ASR processing priorto, or during, analysis by the digital assistant. Such conversion may beperformed as described above, such as in paragraphs [0175] et seq. ofthis document.

The digital assistant identifies (904) at least one context associatedwith the user input. As set forth above with regard to FIGS. 8A-8Q, inaccordance with some embodiments the context includes one or more ofdevice context, user context, and social context. Examples of eachcontext and its use in media discovery are also set forth above.

After identifying at least one context associated with the user input,the digital assistant causes (906) a search for the requested mediabased on the at least one context and the user input. In someembodiments, the search is performed by the digital assistant itself. Inother embodiments, the search is requested by the digital assistant froma separate entity that performs the search and returns the results tothe digital assistant. In some embodiments, the search is both performedby the digital assistant itself and requested by the digital assistantfrom a separate entity. By performing both searches in parallel,response time to the user request of (902) is reduced.

The search of block 906 may be performed locally, on the electronicdevice (e.g., 104, 200, 400, 600), in accordance with some embodiments.In accordance with other embodiments, the search of block 906 may beperformed remotely to the electronic device (e.g., 104, 200, 400, 600).A search performed remotely to the electronic device (e.g., 104, 200,400, 600) may be performed at a server that includes or possesses accessto information relative to the search, such as a server of ShazamEntertainment Limited of London, United Kingdom for audio fingerprintinformation, a server of Billboard Magazine of New York, N.Y. forhistorical music information, and/or a server of the iTunes® musicservice of Apple, Inc. of Cupertino, Calif. In some embodiments, thesearch is both performed locally and remotely to the electronic device(e.g., 104, 200, 400, 600). By performing multiple searches in parallel,response time to the user request of (902) is reduced.

The digital assistant determines (908), based on the at least onecontext and the user input, at least one media item that satisfies therequest. The digital assistant makes this determination in any suitablemanner. According to some embodiments, the digital assistant selects thefirst match that exceeds a predetermined threshold. The digitalassistant determines (910) a probability, based on the at least onecontext and the user input, that at least one media item satisfies therequest. Next, the digital assistant determines (912) whether theprobability exceeds a threshold. In some embodiments, the threshold maybe predetermined. In other embodiments, the threshold may beuser-adjustable. In other embodiments, the threshold may be dynamicallyvariable. If the media items exceed the threshold, the process 900proceeds to the next block 918. According to some embodiments, thedigital assistant selects the best match of several candidate matches.The digital assistant determines (914) a probability, based on the atleast one context and the user input, that at least one media itemsatisfies the request. Next, the digital assistant selects the mediaitem having the highest probability, and proceeds to the next block 918.Examples of the determination 908, based on the at least one context andthe user input, of at least one media item that satisfies the request ofblock 902, are also provided above relative to FIGS. 8A-8Q.

In accordance with a determination that the at least one media itemsatisfies the request, the digital assistant obtains (918) the at leastone media item. In accordance with some embodiments, the digitalassistant can obtain the at least one media item in several ways. As oneexample, the digital assistant automatically adds (920) the obtained atleast one media item to a media library associated with the user, asdescribed above with regard to FIGS. 8A-8Q. As another example, thedigital assistant presents (922) the user with an option to add theobtained media to a media library associated with the user, and inresponse to user selection of the option to add the obtained media to amedia library associated with the user, adds (924) the obtained media toa media library associated with the user. This process is describedabove, with particular reference to FIGS. 8L-8M and the accompanyingtext in the specification. As another example, the digital assistantplaces (926) the obtained media in an ordered queue, and then plays(928) the media according to the queue. This process is described above,with particular reference to FIGS. 8J-8K and the accompanying text inthe specification. In accordance with some embodiments, in the obtainingblock 918, the digital assistant may determine (930) whether a locallibrary includes the at least one media item. The local library islocated on the electronic device (e.g., 104, 200, 400, 600). Bysearching the local library first, or in parallel with causing anexternal search, the amount of time required to satisfy the user requestis reduced when the requested item is located on the electronic device(e.g., 104, 200, 400, 600). If the digital assistant determines that thelocal library includes the at least one media item, the digitalassistant presents (932) the at least one media item to the user. If thedigital assistant determines that the local library does not include theat least one media item, the digital assistant obtains (934) the atleast one media item from an external data source.

In conjunction with obtaining (918) the at least one media item, orafter obtaining (918) the media item, in some embodiments the digitalassistant plays (936) the media item. In some circumstances, where thedigital assistant determines that the user wishes to interrupt theconcurrent playback of other media, the digital assistant terminates(938) the concurrent playback of other media, as described above withregard to FIGS. 8A-8Q.

In accordance with some embodiments, after obtaining the media item, thedigital assistant receives (940) a second user input includingunstructured natural language speech including one or more words. Thedigital assistant annotates (942) the media item with the one or morewords. In some embodiments, the process stops here, if the user desiressimply to make and retain a note in association with the media item. Inother embodiments, the process continues, and the digital assistantcauses (944) a search to be performed based on the annotation. Uponreceipt of search results, the digital assistant presents (946) thesearch result to the user. This process is described above, withparticular reference to FIGS. 8N-8Q and the accompanying text in thespecification.

In accordance with some embodiments, the digital assistant receives(948) a second user input requesting user material. As one example, thismay occur when the digital assistant originally obtained a media itemthat did not match the user's request. This situation is describedabove, with particular reference to FIGS. 8E-8F and the accompanyingtext in the specification. As another example, this may occur when thedigital assistant originally obtained a media item that matched a user'srequest, but user wishes to hear different media. This situation isdescribed above, with particular reference to FIGS. 8G-8H and theaccompanying text in the specification. In response to receiving thesecond user input, the digital assistant causes (950) a search for themedia based on the at least one context, the user input, and the seconduser input. As one example, the combination of the user input and thesecond user input provides additional search criteria that are useful indetermining the media item. As another example, the combination of theuser input and the second user input allows the digital assistant toexclude the original result when evaluating search results. The digitalassistant determines (952), based on the at least one context, the userinput and the second user input, at least one additional media item thatsatisfies the request. In accordance with a determination that the atleast one additional media item satisfies the request, the digitalassistant obtains (954) the at least one additional media item. Further,in accordance with some embodiments, the probability that a media itemsatisfies the request for media can be updated over time, based on, forexample, the at least one context, the user input, and the second userinput requesting user material.

In accordance with some embodiments, FIG. 10 shows an exemplaryfunctional block diagram of an electronic device 1000 configured inaccordance with the principles of the various described embodiments. Inaccordance with some embodiments, the functional blocks of electronicdevice 1000 are configured to perform the techniques described above.The functional blocks of the device 1000 are, optionally, implemented byhardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software to carryout the principles of the various described examples. It is understoodby persons of skill in the art that the functional blocks described inFIG. 10 are, optionally, combined or separated into sub-blocks toimplement the principles of the various described examples. Therefore,the description herein optionally supports any possible combination orseparation or further definition of the functional blocks describedherein.

As shown in FIG. 10, an electronic device 1000 includes a display unit1002 configured to display a graphic user interface, optionally, atouch-sensitive surface unit 1004 configured to receive contacts, amicrophone unit 1006 configured to receive audio signals, and aprocessing unit 1008 coupled to the display unit 1002 and, optionally,the touch-sensitive surface unit 1004 and microphone unit 1006. In someembodiments, the processing unit 1008 includes a receiving unit 1010, anidentifying unit 1012, a causing unit 1014, a determining unit 1016, anobtaining unit 1018, and a playing unit 1020.

The processing unit is configured to receive (e.g., with receiving unit1010) user input associated with a request for media, the user inputcomprising unstructured natural language speech including one or morewords; identify (e.g., with identifying unit 1012) at least one contextassociated with the user input; cause (e.g., with causing unit 1014) asearch for the media based on the at least one context and the userinput; determine (e.g., with determining unit 1016) based on the atleast one context and the user input, at least one media item thatsatisfies the request; and in accordance with a determination that theat least one media item satisfies the request, obtain (e.g., withobtaining unit 1018) the at least one media item.

In some embodiments, the causing unit is further configured to cause(e.g., with causing unit 1014) searching to be performed locally on thedevice.

In some embodiments, the causing unit is further configured to cause(e.g., with causing unit 1014) searching to be performed remotely to thedevice.

In some embodiments, the processing unit is further configured todetermine (e.g., with determining unit 1016) whether a local libraryincludes the media item; and in accordance with a determination that thelocal library includes the media item, present (e.g., with playing unit1020) the media item to the user; in accordance with a determinationthat the local library does not include the media item, obtain (e.g.,with obtaining unit 1018) the media item from an external data source.

In some embodiments, the processing unit is further configured toreceive (e.g., with receiving unit 1010) second user input requestingalternate media; in response to receiving the second user input, cause(e.g., with causing unit 1014) a search for the media based on the atleast one context, the user input and the second user input; determine(e.g., with determining unit 1016) based on the at least one context,the user input and the second user input, at least one additional mediaitem that satisfies the request; and in accordance with a determinationthat the at least one additional media item satisfies the request,obtain (e.g., with obtaining unit 1018) the at least one additionalmedia item.

In some embodiments, the at least one context associated with the userinput includes a device context.

In some embodiments, the device context includes the location of thedevice.

In some embodiments, the device context includes the proximity of thedevice to a wireless location transmitter.

In some embodiments, the device context includes the content of mediaconcurrently played by the device.

In some embodiments, the device context includes a timecode associatedwith media concurrently played by the device.

In some embodiments, the device context includes audio input from themicrophone other than user speech.

In some embodiments, the device context includes data associated withmedia stored on the device.

In some embodiments, the device context includes application context.

In some embodiments, the at least one context associated with the userinput includes a user context.

In some embodiments, the user context includes the content of the userinput.

In some embodiments, the user context includes media associated with theuser.

In some embodiments, the user context includes demographic informationabout the user.

In some embodiments, the user context includes information relating tothe musical preferences of the user.

In some embodiments, the user context includes data associated with usercontent accessible by the device.

In some embodiments, the at least one context associated with the userinput includes a social context.

In some embodiments, the social context includes the access frequency ofa particular media item across a plurality of users.

In some embodiments, the social context includes the number ofreferences to a media item in a social media database.

In some embodiments, the media item is a song.

In some embodiments, the processing unit is further configured to, inresponse to obtaining the at least one media item, play (e.g., withplaying unit 1020) at least one media item, and terminate (e.g., withplaying unit 1020) concurrent playback of other media.

In some embodiments, the processing unit is further configured to, inresponse to obtaining the media item, place (e.g., with playing unit1020) the at least one obtained media item in an ordered queue; and play(e.g., with playing unit 1020) the at least one media item according tothe queue.

In some embodiments, the obtaining unit is further configured to add theat least one media item to a media library associated with the user.

In some embodiments, the processing unit is further configured topresent (e.g., with the display unit 1002) the user with an option toadd the at least one media item to a media library associated with theuser; and in response to user selection of the option to add the atleast one media item to a media library associated with the user, add(e.g., with the obtaining unit 1018) the at least one media item to amedia library associated with the user.

In some embodiments, the processing unit is further configured to, afterobtaining the media item, receive (e.g., with the receiving unit 1010)second user input comprising unstructured natural language speechincluding one or more words; and annotate (e.g. with the processing unit1008) the media item with the one or more words.

In some embodiments, the processing unit is further configured to cause(e.g., with the causing unit 1014) a search to be performed based on theannotation; and present (e.g. ,with the display unit 1002) the searchresult to the user.

In some embodiments, the determining unit is further configured todetermine (e.g., with the determining unit 1016) a probability, based onthe at least one context and the user input, that at least one mediaitem satisfies the request; and determine (e.g., with the determiningunit 1016) whether the probability exceeds a threshold.

In some embodiments, the determining unit is further configured todetermine (e.g., with the determining unit 1016) a probability, based onthe at least one context and the user input, that at least one mediaitem satisfies the request; and selecting (e.g., with the determiningunit 1016) the media item having the highest probability.

In some embodiments, the receiving unit is further configured to receivestreaming audio containing the at least one media item.

The operations described above with reference to FIGS. 9A-9C are,optionally, implemented by components depicted in FIGS. 1-7C or FIG. 10.It would be clear to a person having ordinary skill in the art howprocesses can be implemented based on the components depicted in FIGS.1-7C or FIG. 10.

The foregoing description, for purpose of explanation, has beendescribed with reference to specific embodiments. However, theillustrative discussions above are not intended to be exhaustive or tolimit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Many modificationsand variations are possible in view of the above teachings. Theembodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain theprinciples of the techniques and their practical applications. Othersskilled in the art are thereby enabled to best utilize the techniquesand various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to theparticular use contemplated.

Although the disclosure and examples have been fully described withreference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be noted that variouschanges and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in theart. Such changes and modifications are to be understood as beingincluded within the scope of the disclosure and examples as defined bythe claims.

As described above, one aspect of the present technology is thegathering and use of data available from various sources to improve thedelivery to users of content that may be of interest to them. Thepresent disclosure contemplates that in some instances, this gathereddata may include personal information data that uniquely identifies orcan be used to contact or locate a specific person. Such personalinformation data can include demographic data, location-based data,telephone numbers, email addresses, home addresses, or any otheridentifying information.

The present disclosure recognizes that the use of such personalinformation data, in the present technology, can be used to the benefitof users. For example, the personal information data can be used todeliver targeted content that is of greater interest to the user.Accordingly, use of such personal information data enables calculatedcontrol of the delivered content. Further, other uses for personalinformation data that benefit the user are also contemplated by thepresent disclosure.

The present disclosure further contemplates that the entitiesresponsible for the collection, analysis, disclosure, transfer, storage,or other use of such personal information data will comply withwell-established privacy policies and/or privacy practices. Inparticular, such entities should implement and consistently use privacypolicies and practices that are generally recognized as meeting orexceeding industry or governmental requirements for maintaining personalinformation data private and secure. For example, personal informationfrom users should be collected for legitimate and reasonable uses of theentity and not shared or sold outside of those legitimate uses. Further,such collection should occur only after receiving the informed consentof the users. Additionally, such entities would take any needed stepsfor safeguarding and securing access to such personal information dataand ensuring that others with access to the personal information dataadhere to their privacy policies and procedures. Further, such entitiescan subject themselves to evaluation by third parties to certify theiradherence to widely accepted privacy policies and practices.

Despite the foregoing, the present disclosure also contemplatesembodiments in which users selectively block the use of, or access to,personal information data. That is, the present disclosure contemplatesthat hardware and/or software elements can be provided to prevent orblock access to such personal information data. For example, in the caseof advertisement delivery services, the present technology can beconfigured to allow users to select to “opt in” or “opt out” ofparticipation in the collection of personal information data duringregistration for services. In another example, users can select not toprovide location information for targeted content delivery services. Inyet another example, users can select to not provide precise locationinformation, but permit the transfer of location zone information.

Therefore, although the present disclosure broadly covers use ofpersonal information data to implement one or more various disclosedembodiments, the present disclosure also contemplates that the variousembodiments can also be implemented without the need for accessing suchpersonal information data. That is, the various embodiments of thepresent technology are not rendered inoperable due to the lack of all ora portion of such personal information data. For example, content can beselected and delivered to users by inferring preferences based onnon-personal information data or a bare minimum amount of personalinformation, such as the content being requested by the deviceassociated with a user, other non-personal information available to thecontent delivery services, or publically available information.

What is claimed is:
 1. A non-transitory computer-readable storage mediumstoring one or more programs, the one or more programs comprisinginstructions, which when executed by one or more processors of anelectronic device, cause the electronic device to: receive a firstnatural language speech input indicative of a media request, the firstnatural language speech input including a first search criteria; provideplayback of a first media item, wherein the first media item is obtainedbased on the first search criteria; while providing playback of thefirst media item, receive a second natural language speech input;determine, based on the second natural language speech input, a userintent of obtaining a media item different from the first media item; inaccordance with determining the user intent of obtaining a media itemdifferent from the first media item: obtain a second media itemdifferent from the first media item based on the first search criteriaand the second natural language speech input; and provide the secondmedia item.
 2. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium ofclaim 1, wherein the first media item is obtained based on a context ofthe first natural language speech input.
 3. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein determining theuser intent of obtaining a media item different from the first mediaitem includes determining the user intent of obtaining a media itemdifferent from the first media item based on a context of the secondnatural language speech input.
 4. The non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium of claim 1, wherein obtaining the second media itemdifferent from the first media item includes: searching for the secondmedia item based on a context of the second natural language speechinput.
 5. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim4, wherein the context of the second natural language speech inputincludes device context.
 6. The non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium of claim 5, wherein the device context includes a content of thefirst media item.
 7. The non-transitory computer-readable storage mediumof claim 5, wherein the device context includes data associated withmedia stored on the electronic device.
 8. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium of claim 4, wherein the context of thesecond natural language speech input includes a user context.
 9. Thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein theuser context includes a content of the second natural language speechinput.
 10. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim8, wherein the user context includes media associated with a user. 11.The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, whereinthe user context includes information relating to a musical preferenceof a user.
 12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium ofclaim 4, wherein the context of the second natural language inputincludes social context.
 13. The non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium of claim 12, wherein the social context includes theaccess frequency of a particular media item across a plurality of users.14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 12,wherein the social context includes the number of references to a mediaitem in a social media database.
 15. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein obtaining thesecond media item different from the first media item includes:searching for a set of media items based on the first search criteria;and discarding, from the set of media items, one or more media itemsmatching the first media item.
 16. The non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium of claim 1, wherein the one or more programs furthercomprise instructions, which when executed by the one or moreprocessors, cause the electronic device to: obtain based on the firstsearch criteria, a list of media items including the first media itemand the second media item different from the first media item; andwherein obtaining the second media item different from the first mediaitem includes selecting, based on the second natural language speechinput, the second media item from the list of media items.
 17. Thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, whereinproviding the second media item includes: terminating playback of thefirst media item; and providing playback of the second media item. 18.The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, whereinthe one or more programs further comprise instructions, which whenexecuted by the one or more processors, cause the electronic device to:present, to a user, an option to add the second media item to a libraryassociated with the user; receive from the user, a user selection of theoption; and in response to receiving the user selection of the option,add the second media item to the library associated with the user. 19.The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, whereinthe one or more programs further comprise instructions, which whenexecuted by the one or more processors, cause the electronic device to:while providing the second media item, receive a third natural speechinput including a request for alternate media; and in accordance withreceiving the third natural language speech input, provide a third mediaitem different from the second media item.
 20. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein the third mediaitem includes a different version of the second media item.
 21. A methodfor operating a digital assistant comprising: at an electronic devicewith one or more processors and memory: receiving a first naturallanguage speech input indicative of a media request, the first naturallanguage speech input including a first search criteria; providingplayback of a first media item, wherein the first media item is obtainedbased on the first search criteria; while providing playback of thefirst media item, receiving a second natural language speech input;determining, based on the second natural language speech input, a userintent of obtaining a media item different from the first media item; inaccordance with determining the user intent of obtaining a media itemdifferent from the first media item: obtaining a second media itemdifferent from the first media item based on the first search criteriaand the second natural language speech input; and providing the secondmedia item.
 22. An electronic device, comprising: one or moreprocessors; a memory; and one or more programs, wherein the one or moreprograms are stored in the memory and configured to be executed by theone or more processors, the one or more programs including instructionsfor: receiving a first natural language speech input indicative of amedia request, the first natural language speech input including a firstsearch criteria; providing playback of a first media item, wherein thefirst media item is obtained based on the first search criteria; whileproviding playback of the first media item, receiving a second naturallanguage speech input; determining, based on the second natural languagespeech input, a user intent of obtaining a media item different from thefirst media item; in accordance with determining the user intent ofobtaining a media item different from the first media item: obtaining asecond media item different from the first media item based on the firstsearch criteria and the second natural language speech input; andproviding the second media item.